Scott Demerau
Executive Chairman
L. Scott Demerau is Executive Chairman of Falcon’s Beyond. In this role, he oversees corporate structure and finance, strategic business expansion and relationships, and ongoing value creation for stakeholders and investors.
Scott Demerau, working alongside Juli Demerau, his wife and business partner of 33 years, has been a force in family entertainment for more than three decades. Together, Scott and Juli founded, built, and operated three significant brands in the amusement & theme park industry, and created the proven model for “Big-Experience, Small-Footprint” theme parks associated with resorts in major tourist centers worldwide.
Previous to his current role, Scott was Chairman and CEO of Katmandu Group, where he oversaw the growth and expansion of the Katmandu Parks, and was instrumental in establishing a 50/50 joint venture relationship with Meliá Hotels International (MHI). Following its merger with Falcon’s, Katmandu Group now serves as the operations wing of Falcon’s Beyond, responsible for Falcon’s-related guest experiences in parks and resorts worldwide.
As co-founder of the first Katmandu Park in 2007 in Mallorca, Spain, Scott had a vision to transform the beach holiday entertainment industry. In 2012, under the Demerau leadership, Katmandu formed the joint venture with MHI, one of the world’s largest hotel operators, to expand the Mallorca site into immersive, fully-themed Sol Katmandu Park & Resort, jointly develop and operate additional properties, and open Katmandu-themed children’s resort camps in Meliá hotel sites around the world.
In 2019, Katmandu formed a strategic partnership with Falcon’s Creative Group to expand Katmandu’s original IP, master plan new parks, and develop custom rides complete with original IP Content. In 2021, the couple spearheaded a merger between Katmandu and Falcon’s Creative Group to form Falcon’s Beyond, a fully integrated development enterprise to propel IP-driven parks, resorts, media, and merchandise around the world.
Scott and Juli Demerau embarked on their career in family entertainment immediately after graduation from university. In 1985, Scott and Juli co-founded Fantasy Golf Development Company to create, construct, and operate the Mountasia Family Fun Centers, a multi-attraction FEC chain of $2M-$7M projects. Over the next eight years, while building and operating 24 locations throughout the southeast USA and in Mallorca, the emerging company strategically planned a public offering as Mountasia Entertainment International (MEI). In 1993, Scott guided MEI through a successful IPO, which was 10x oversubscribed, achieved a PE over 70x, and began trading publicly on NASDAQ.
Within a year of the IPO, MEI acquired the Malibu Grand Prix IP, formerly owned by Warner Communications. With 25 racing-centric amusement parks, the acquisition doubled MEI’s portfolio of owned locations, spanning the US from California to Florida with more than 3,500 employees. Over a two-year period, a major consolidation program reshaped the company into a network of corporately owned and managed LBEs. This company became the largest LBE operator chain in the U.S. before selling to a private venture group in 1996.
Scott and Juli were named in Entrepreneur magazine’s list of “40 Under 40” in 1991 and were awarded Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneurs of the Year award in 1994 for the creation of Mountasia Entertainment. Time celebrated their success, and in 1994 Fortune ran an article on the Demeraus entitled “Profit Lessons for Disney.” Among many other awards, in 2016 Sol Katmandu Park & Resort was recognized as the #1 hotel in Europe for innovation in service by the European Hospitality Awards, and in 2016 was named the #1 Business Idea in Leisure Category by Actualidad Económica. TripAdvisor gave Katmandu Park a Travelers’ Choice 2020 Best of the Best, and ranked it among the top ten amusement & water parks in Spain.
Scott is also President of Fun Stuff, a Falcon’s Beyond subsidiary which holds a 50% interest in the joint venture with Meliá Hotels International, and he serves on the JV Board.
He holds a degree in Business from Ferris State University in Michigan.
Scott and Juli Demerau are philanthropists at heart and support charitable endeavors or causes which reflect their personal priorities and values. Their collective pledge is to “do good in the world by contributing to meaningful organizations that improve the lives of others.” Their philanthropy has particularly focused on orphanages, underserved populations, and the mentoring of young business minds.