Mattel hires ex-McKinsey partner Ken Wee as chief strategy officer
Mattel, a toy manufacturing and entertainment company, has hired former McKinsey partner Ken Wee as EVP and chief strategy officer.
Based in Mattel’s Los Angeles headquarters, Wee will oversee strategic planning and corporate development for the company – which has 33,000 employees and annual revenue of $5.44 billion.
He joins the firm from video game company Activision Blizzard, where he spent the last five years as chief strategy officer. Wee helped execute the company’s landmark $69 billion sale to Microsoft, which completed in October 2023 after clearing a significant degree of scrutiny from competition watchdogs in the United Kingdom and United States.
Before that, Wee spent 11 years at McKinsey & Company, where he was a partner and leader of the interactive entertainment practice. He was also previously an investor at New Mountain Capital, an analyst at Citigroup, and an associate at Nitron Advisors.
“Ken brings extensive experience in strategic planning, M&A, and corporate development gained in the gaming, technology and media sectors, which bodes well as we further our aim to unlock the full value of our IP outside the toy aisle and create long-term shareholder value,” said Mattel chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz, to whom Wee will report.
Mattel last year felt the enticing potential for expanded monetization of its IP with the rip-roaring success of the Barbie movie. Mattel’s various toy properties – such as Barbie and Masters of the Universe – have always had movie, TV, and video game tie-ins. The current shift however, is to develop blockbuster Hollywood films instead of lower-rent content. Mattel would certainly like to find another Greta Gerwig to shepherd its American Girl IP to similar heights.
Elevating Barbie and Hot Wheels video games above the typical shovelware-level of those releases may be another target.
“I am proud and excited to join Mattel and work with our talented teams to grow our iconic brands in new ways and delight our fans through play,” Wee said.
