Brian Witherow has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Cedar Fair since January 2012.
Brian began his career with public accounting firm Arthur Andersen, having earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Miami University. He left public accounting in 1995 to join Cedar Fair as corporate director of investor relations. He was promoted to corporate treasurer in 2004 and named vice president and corporate controller the following year.
Now, as CFO, Brian is responsible for creating and executing upon a strategy to drive, account for and assess the effectiveness of Cedar Fair’s entire financial enterprise. As executive vice president, his leadership position, which also includes oversight for information technology, has been integral in shaping Cedar Fair’s vision, long-term corporate mission and business strategy designed not only to build value for unitholders, but to also create lasting memories for Cedar Fair’s patrons.
Few people have played a more consistent role in the company’s accelerated period of growth than has Brian. He participated in or led teams through numerous acquisitions, which collectively added nine regional amusement parks and two waterparks to Cedar Fair’s asset portfolio across the U.S. and in Canada. Brian helped drive the game-changing acquisition of the Paramount Park properties from CBS in 2006, an ideal cultural fit that added significant, well-market positioned park assets from coast to coast in the U.S. and in Ontario, Canada.
A lifelong Cleveland sports fan, Brian’s name was drawn for a chance to win a car by sinking three shots – a foul shot, a three-pointer and one from half court – during halftime of a Cavaliers game. With only 24 seconds to accomplish the seemingly impossible feat, Brian nailed the free throw, sunk a three-pointer on his fifth try and, at the buzzer, drained his half-court shot. The crowd went wild as Brian was presented the keys to a brand new Jeep Wrangler.
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