Mattel appoints Ynon Kreiz CEO, replacing Margo Georgiadis
Mattel Inc. announced Thursday afternoon that Chief Executive Margo Georgiadis is leaving the company, and will be replaced by Ynon Kreiz on April 26. Ancestry later announced that Georgiadis will become CEO of that company once her duties at Mattel are complete. Confirming an earlier Wall Street Journal report, Mattel said that Georgiadis will stay on through May 10 in an advisory role and that Kreiz will still take on the role of board chairman, which was planned before Thursday's announcement. Kreiz was the chairman and CEO of Maker Studios Inc. before that company was acquired by The Walt Disney Co. . "Ynon has tremendous expertise across areas critical to our strategy, including digital, media and entertainment, and we have already benefited from that experience and his compelling vision for the company since he became a director," said Christopher Sinclair, Mattel's former CEO and chairman who is retiring from the board. Georgiadis, a former Alphabet Inc. executive, had been CEO of Mattel since February 2017. "I am proud of what we accomplished together and confident in Mattel's path forward," she said in Thursday's announcement. Mattel stock closed down 3.2% Thursday, with a sharp decline toward the end of the session after the Journal report, but rebounded with a 3.9% gain in after-hours trading. Shares have declined 46.4% in the past year, as the S&P 500 index has gained 15.8%.