Mattel Names Steve Totzke President and Chief Operating Officer; Roberto Stanichi Steps Down as President, Chief Marketing and Brand Officer

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 5, 2026--

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) today announced the appointment of Steve Totzke as President and Chief Operating Officer, effective November 11, 2026, overseeing the company’s global brand portfolio, sales and commercial operations, and consumer products and experiences. Totzke will report to Mattel Chairman and CEO Roger Lynch. Roberto Stanichi, President and Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, will step down from his role to pursue another opportunity, effective November 10, 2026.

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Lynch said: “Steve is a highly accomplished and respected leader at Mattel and across the global toy industry, with three decades of experience driving growth, deepening relationships with our retail and entertainment partners, and expanding the reach of our brands. He has been an invaluable advisor to the Board and to me as I’ve stepped into the Chairman and CEO role. Steve’s comprehensive understanding of Mattel and the marketplace makes him exceptionally well suited to lead in this newly created role. I look forward to working closely with him as we sharpen our execution, drive innovation and creativity, and translate the strength of our brands into value for our shareholders.”

Totzke said: “I am honored by the confidence Roger and the Board have in me and am excited to take on this expanded role. Mattel has an extraordinary portfolio of brands, tremendous creative and commercial capabilities, and an incredibly talented team. Bringing our brand portfolio, commercial, and consumer products and experiences organizations together gives us a powerful opportunity to operate with greater focus and speed, strengthen our partnerships, and create even more compelling products and experiences for our fans around the world.”

Totzke previously served as Mattel’s President and Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing the company’s global sales and commercial operations. Prior to being named Chief Commercial Officer, Totzke served as Executive Vice President, Commercial for the company’s North America division. Totzke has also held several international leadership positions during his 30-year tenure with Mattel. He has served as President and Executive Advisor since May 2026. A longtime champion of the toy industry, Totzke has served on the Board of Directors of the Toy Association and the Mattel Children’s Foundation. He was inducted into the Canadian Toy Association Hall of Fame in 2025 and received the Inclusive Leadership Award from Women in Toys, Licensing, and Entertainment (WiT) in 2026.

Lynch added: “We thank Roberto for his many contributions over his 20-year career at Mattel. He has played an important part in developing our brand-centric operating model and we wish him all the best in his next chapter.”

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts or by their nature are uncertain, and include statements regarding Mattel’s guidance and goals for future periods and other future events. The use of words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “looks forward,” “confident that,” “believes,” and “targeted,” among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available operating, financial, economic, and other information and assumptions, and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors or combination of factors, many of which are beyond Mattel’s control, may cause actual results or outcomes, or the timing of those results or outcomes, to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Specific factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) Mattel’s ability to design, develop, produce, manufacture, source, ship, and distribute products in a timely and cost-effective manner; (ii) sufficient interest in and demand for the products and entertainment Mattel offers by retail customers and consumers to profitably recover Mattel’s costs; (iii) downturns in economic conditions affecting Mattel’s markets which can negatively impact retail customers and consumers, and which can result in lower employment levels and lower consumer disposable income and spending, including lower spending on purchases of Mattel’s products; (iv) other factors which can lower discretionary consumer spending, such as higher costs for fuel and food, drops in the value of homes or other consumer assets, and high levels of consumer debt; (v) potential difficulties or delays Mattel may experience in implementing cost savings and efficiency enhancing initiatives; (vi) other economic and public health conditions or regulatory changes in the markets in which Mattel and its customers and suppliers operate, which could create delays or increase Mattel’s costs, such as higher commodity prices, labor costs, transportation costs, or outbreaks of disease; (vii) the effect of inflation on Mattel’s business, including cost inflation in supply chain inputs and increased labor costs, as well as pricing actions taken in an effort to mitigate the effects of inflation; (viii) currency fluctuations, including movements in foreign exchange rates, which can lower Mattel’s net revenues and earnings, and significantly impact Mattel’s costs; (ix) the concentration of Mattel’s customers, potentially increasing the negative impact to Mattel of difficulties experienced by any of Mattel’s customers, such as bankruptcies or liquidations or a general lack of success, or changes in their purchasing or selling patterns; (x) the inventory policies of Mattel’s retail customers, as well as the concentration of Mattel’s revenues in the second half of the year, which, coupled with reliance by retailers on quick response inventory management techniques, increases the risk of underproduction, overproduction, and shipping delays; (xi) legal, reputational, and financial risks related to security breaches or cyberattacks; (xii) work disruptions, including as a result of supply chain disruption such as plant or port closures, which may impact Mattel’s ability to manufacture or deliver product in a timely and cost-effective manner; (xiii) the impact of competition on revenues, margins, and other aspects of Mattel’s business, including the ability to offer products that consumers choose to buy instead of competitive products; (xiv) the ability to secure, maintain, and renew popular licenses from licensors of entertainment properties; (xv) the ability to successfully develop, publish, and commercialize digital games; (xvi) the ability to attract and retain talented employees and adapt to evolving workplace models; (xvii) the risk of product recalls or product liability suits and costs associated with product safety regulations; (xviii) tariffs, tariff-related developments, including refunds, trade restrictions, or trade barriers, which depending on the effective date and duration of such measures, changes in the amount, scope, and nature of such measures in the future, any countermeasures that the target countries may take, and any mitigating actions that may become available, could increase Mattel’s product costs and other costs of doing business, and other changes in laws or regulations in the United States and/or in other major markets, such as China, in which Mattel operates, including, without limitation, with respect to taxes, trade policies, product safety, or sustainability, which may also increase Mattel’s product costs and other costs of doing business, and in each case reduce Mattel’s earnings and liquidity; (xix) business disruptions or other unforeseen impacts due to economic instability, political instability, civil unrest, armed hostilities, such as the conflict in the Middle East, or terrorist activities, natural and man-made disasters, pandemics or other public health crises, or other catastrophic events; (xx) failure to realize the planned benefits from any investments or acquisitions made by Mattel, including Mattel163; (xxi) the impact of other market conditions or third-party actions or approvals, including those that result in any significant failure, inadequacy, or interruption from vendors or outsourcers, which could reduce demand for Mattel’s products, delay or increase the cost of implementation of Mattel’s programs, or alter Mattel’s actions and reduce actual results; (xxii) changes in financing markets or the inability of Mattel to obtain financing on attractive terms; (xxiii) the impact of litigation, arbitration, or regulatory decisions or settlement actions; (xxiv) Mattel’s ability to navigate regulatory frameworks in connection with new areas of investment, product development, or other business activities, such as artificial intelligence; (xxv) the potential impact of the development, use, and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in Mattel’s business and products; (xxvi) the sufficiency of additional controls and procedures that Mattel has implemented to remediate the prior material weakness in Mattel's internal control over financial reporting, additional material weaknesses or other deficiencies in the future, or the failure to maintain an effective system of internal control; and (xxvii) other risks and uncertainties as may be described in Mattel’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” section of Mattel’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, and subsequent periodic filings, as well as in Mattel’s other public statements. Mattel does not update forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law.

About Mattel

Mattel is a leading global play and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends™, UNO®, Masters of the Universe®, Matchbox®, Monster High®, and Polly Pocket®, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Visit us at mattel.com.

MAT-FIN MAT-CORP

Steve Totzke

WASHINGTON (AP) — Salon, one of the early internet's most influential websites that featured sharp voices and political and cultural journalism with a liberal sensibility, announced Thursday it would shut down after 31 years of publication. “It has been an extraordinary privilege,” the outlet said in a farewell note.

The announcement, seen as a surprise, cited the fact that “the business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years.” It did not immediately indicate what would become of its employees, though some reported they had lost their jobs. A spokesperson for the outlet said 19 full-time employees had been affected, as well as a handful of private contractors.

“Over three decades, Salon has brought together politics, culture, criticism and ideas in a way that was distinctly our own,” the unsigned farewell note said. “Our journalism examined power and politics, questioned assumptions, surfaced stories that deserved attention and made room for perspectives that were too often overlooked. Our writers and editors helped shape conversations about the forces changing our lives.”

Salon began its life in the mid-1990s, barely three years after the internet itself went mainstream and a time when the “World Wide Web” was still written out in that fashion. It launched a decade before the newspaper and print magazine markets imploded — and a decade, too, before the rise of social media fragmented the journalism world.

As its name suggested, Salon was initially styled as an online magazine and meeting place, a site where more provocative opinions and stories that might not be at home in daily newspapers or even then-dominant newsweeklies like Time or Newsweek could surface and generate discussion. It quickly became a place where writers wanted their work to appear.

“The timing was right — readers were tired of bland, market-tested media products, and the internet allowed us to launch something original, something with a strong voice,” founder David Talbot said on the outlet’s five-year anniversary in 2000.

It drew a cadre of high-profile writers and people who would become famous, including Jake Tapper and Glenn Greenwald. Two of its editors-in-chief, Talbot and Joan Walsh, went on to become prominent progressive political voices as well.

As the internet grew, so did Salon's competition. Slate emerged the following year, and soon after, online magazines became the order of the day. Eventually, older print publications like The Atlantic began putting more content online and the marketplace of online ideas grew. Salon used Princess Diana's death in 1997 to go beyond its culture-and-criticism roots and wade into breaking-news coverage.

Salon told The Associated Press that it had no immediate plans to take down its online archives, which include three decades of stories from across the world and across topics and genres.

In its statement, Salon also made a point of thanking its readers.

“You came to Salon for the journalism, the dialogue, the essays, the criticism, the unexpected discoveries and the sense that there was a place on the internet where ideas mattered,” it said. “You read, shared, challenged, subscribed, wrote to us and kept coming back. Your engagement made Salon a publication and a community, and it gave our work meaning. We are so grateful for the time you spent with us.”

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Noveck reported from New York.

The home page of Salon.com is displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)