SeaWorld suffers biggest plunge of 2019 as CEO resigns after just 7 months (SEAS)

Mike Blake/Reuters

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment posted their largest single-day drop of the year on Tuesday after the company announced its CEO resigned after just seven months in the role. 

Outgoing CEO Gustavo Antorcha said he was leaving “due to disagreements over the Board’s involvement in the decision making at the company,” according to SeaWorld’s SEC filing. Shares of SeaWorld tumbled as much as 7% on the news. 

“While I may have a difference of approach, I continue to believe in SeaWorld’s strategy, mission, team and prospects,” Antorcha said in a statement from the company. 

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Chief financial officer Marc Swanson will serve at interim CEO and chief accounting officer Elizabeth Castro Gulacsy will step-in as interim CFO, the filing said.

SeaWorld has struggled to retain employees among its top ranks. The company has cycled through six CEOs since 2014, with some serving on interim basis and others in a permanent role. 

A 2013 documentary detailing its handling of captive killer whales has loomed over the sea-park company for the last several years. Revenue has consistently fallen every year since 2013. 

Shares of SeaWorld are still up more than 30% year-to-date.

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