CEO shuffle: Changes ahead for Mattel, Condé Nast, and the new merged Paramount-Warner Bros.

Mattel Inc. is welcoming a new boss. So is Paramount.

Roger Lynch will be stepping into his new role as CEO of Mattel, but he is not new to the toy company. Lynch has served as a member of Mattel’s board since 2018.

Since 2019, he’s been CEO of Condé Nast, the media company behind Vogue, The New Yorker, Wired, and many other magazine brands.

Mattel, as one of the leading global toy manufacturers, is home to household names like Barbie, Hot Wheels, American Girl, and Fisher-Price. 

“Throughout my years on the Board, I have admired Mattel’s brands, its talented people, and unique culture,” Lynch said in a statement Wednesday.

Lynch succeeds Ynon Kreiz, who led Mattel for eight years.

Paramount Skydance separately announced late on Wednesday that Kreiz was recruited by David Ellison to take on a position as co-CEO of the Hollywood studio and media conglomerate after its expected merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Streaming expertise at the forefront of the shuffle

Lynch has also served as the CEO of Pandora, a leading music streaming platform, and was CEO of Sling TV, which was a pioneering streaming service aimed at cable cord-cutters when it debuted more than a decade ago.

In his role at Paramount, Kreiz will co-lead the company with Ellison upon its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, with Kreiz focusing on the company’s day-to-day management and integration of the combined businesses, Paramount said in a press release. 

“The industry is at an inflection point, demanding evolution, investment, and a willingness to rethink business models,” Kreiz said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, a federal judge has approved an agreement that allows Paramount’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery to move forward. The deal is expected to officially close on October 6. It is worth about $81 billion based on the companies’ equity.

The acquisition will include major news networks like CNN and CBS, franchises like Harry Potter and Transformers, and cable networks like Nickelodeon and MTV.