A Media CEO and a Biotech CFO in Three Weeks. Here Is What the Board Is Betting On
Ynon Kreiz resigned as Mattel’s chairman and CEO on September 29, after eight years. A day later, Mattel named Roger Lynch to replace him. Three weeks after that, it named Peter Griffith CFO.
Neither man has run a toy company. Lynch ran Condé Nast. Griffith was CFO of Amgen. We think that is deliberate, and we think it tells us more about where Mattel’s board is nervous than any press release does.
The CEO: a board member steps in
Lynch is 63. He has sat on Mattel’s board since 2018 and held the independent lead director seat until this appointment. Before Condé Nast, which he has led since April 2019, he was CEO of Pandora and the founding CEO of Sling TV.
The terms: chairman on October 2, CEO no later than November 2. Until then the chief legal officer, Jonathan Anschell, is interim principal executive officer. Board member Diana Ferguson takes over as independent lead director. Lynch’s package includes a $2.3 million base salary, a 200% target bonus starting with the 2027 performance year, and $22 million in equity grants at target value. He also gets a $10.6 million signing bonus, with a December 31 deadline attached.
Kreiz is leaving for what Mattel describes only as a senior role at another public company.
Mattel’s stock fell about 4% on the news.
The CFO: second one in under 18 months
Griffith starts as CFO and joins the board, reporting to Lynch. He spent more than two decades as a partner at EY, then worked at private equity and advisory firm Sherwood Canyon Group, then became CFO at Amgen. His background is strategic transactions, capital allocation, technology investment and cybersecurity.
He replaces Paul Ruh, who became CFO in May 2025 and will advise through the end of 2026. Retail Dive’s headline counts Griffith as Mattel’s second CFO in under 18 months. His pay: $1.3 million base, a bonus of up to 200% of base, a $3.3 million performance-based RSU award that vests after three years, and a $1.4 million cash signing bonus.
Why a toy company would pick these two
Look at what the numbers say. In the second quarter, Mattel’s net sales rose 10% to $1.1 billion. It also posted an $18 million net loss, against $53 million of net income a year earlier. Sales up, profit down. That is a margin problem, not a demand problem.
Then add the investors. Southeastern Asset Management sent an open letter earlier this year pushing for changes. In early October, Ariel Investments urged Mattel to explore strategic alternatives, including a sale, merger or divestiture.
So you have a board facing two shareholders who want options on the table. It named a CEO who knows media and intellectual property and has run companies through a business-model shift (Pandora, Sling). And it named a CFO whose résumé is deals and capital allocation. If we were an activist reading those two appointments, we would conclude the board is preparing for a conversation about structure. Mattel has said nothing of the kind.
Three patterns worth borrowing
The director who steps in. Lynch has seven years of board access to Mattel’s numbers and strategy. A board member as CEO tends to start faster than an outsider, and the board already trusts him. The cost is independence. The person who approved the plan is now judging it, and the board has to replace a lead director in the same week.
The category outsider. Kreiz himself came to toys from media and entertainment, so the board is repeating a move it has already made. Mattel has leaned on film, television and franchise development to grow in recent years. Hiring another media operator tells you the board sees the company as an intellectual property business that also makes products. Whether that holds up on margins is the open question.
The fast CFO swap. Replacing a CFO within 18 months, in the same month as the CEO change, is the part I would watch. Some of it is the new CEO choosing his own finance partner. Some of it is a board that wants a different skill set in the seat while shareholders are pushing for options. Candidates considering the job should ask which one it is.
What to do if you are in a similar seat
If you are a CFO candidate at a company with activist pressure, ask in the first conversation what the board has told investors about strategic alternatives. The answer shapes the job.
If you are an outside CEO candidate, find out whether a director is in the running before you accept a search call. Mattel’s board went to its own lead director. Outsiders rarely get a fair look when that happens.
If you run a board, name the interim and the lead director on the same day you announce the CEO. Mattel did, and it kept the gap to a few weeks.
We will watch how Mattel’s first full quarter under Lynch and Griffith reads. If you are mapping toy, entertainment-brand or licensing leadership, this is one team to follow.
About The Talent Studios
The Talent Studios is a consumer-focused executive search firm partnering with companies navigating growth, transformation and leadership change. We help business-to-consumer organizations identify executives whose capabilities align not simply with the roles companies have held historically, but with the business models, growth channels and organizational structures they are building next.
