Hassenfeld Brothers Three
Polish-Jewish brothers, Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfeld, Hillel left for another textile business while Henry took charge of the corporation. They began making their own pencils after their pencil supplier began making pencil cases as well. Hassenfeld Brothers produced modeling clay and then doctor and nurse kits as their first toys, and they became primarily a toy company by 1942. Hillel died in 1943 and Henry Hassenfeld became CEO, while his son Anthony Merrill became president. The company entered the plastic fields during World War II to support its toy line. Jacob Klapper, a
Holocaust survivor born in Ulanów, recalled being told when he arrived in the United States that Hassenfeld Brothers would employ any survivor from Ulanów, no questions asked. Hassenfeld Brothers' first popular toy was
Mr. Potato Head, In 1963 the company introduced
Flubber, but reports of sore throats and rashes from the product and knock-offs prompted an investigation by the
Food and Drug Administration and a voluntary recall by Hassenfeld Brothers. The company was approached in 1963 to license a toy based on
The Lieutenant, which they turned down because they did not want to be tied to a possibly short-lived television series. Instead, Hassenfeld Brothers produced the
G.I. Joe toy in 1964 which they termed an "
action figure" in order to market it to boys who would not want to play with dolls. In 1964 and 1965, G.I. Joe accounted for two-thirds of Hassenfeld's sales. The other toy was named The Hypo-Squirt, a hypodermic needle-shaped water gun tagged by the press as a "junior junkie" kit. Both were recalled. Romper Room and its toy line had continued success, although
Action for Children's Television citizens group considered the program to be an advertising channel for toys. In the mid-1980s, Hasbro moved past
Mattel to become the world's largest toy company. Hasbro then moved to outsell Mattel's
Barbie in the fashion doll market with the 1986 introduction of
Jem, a record producer/rock musician dual identity fashion doll. Jem initially posted strong sales but plummeted and was withdrawn from the market in 1987. Hasbro followed up in 1988 with
Maxie, a Barbie-sized blonde doll, so that Barbie clothing and accessories would fit. Maxie lasted until 1990. In July 1989, Hasbro acquired bankrupt
Coleco for $85 million. Stephen Hassenfeld died later that year with the company having gone from sales of $104 million in the year he took control to 1989 sales of over $1.4 billion. and
Galoob for $220 million. That same year, Milton Bradley merged with Parker Bros. to form Hasbro Games. In 1999, Hasbro paid for rights to
Pokémon toys. The same year,
Wizards of the Coast was bought in a deal worth $325 million. Wizards of the Coast is now a subsidiary of Hasbro and has Avalon Hill as its division. In 2001 money-losing Hasbro Interactive was sold to
Infogrames, a French software concern, for $100 million. Hasbro entered the building block toy with its
Built to Rule line in 2003, which did not hold together well or were too hard for the targeted age group, thus ended in 2005. In 2004, the company entered into a deal with
Paramount Home Entertainment to release its programs based on its games and toys on VHS and DVD.
2008–2018 In 2008, Hasbro acquired game maker
Cranium, Inc. for $77.5 million. The deal was announced on January 4 and closed on January 25. Hasbro and
Universal Pictures signed an agreement in February 2008 to derive four films from seven Hasbro properties for production. In May, Bennett Schneir was hired to lead its
Hasbro Films division, while Hasbro also reacquired series based on their properties from
Sunbow Productions. The year of his promotion to CEO of Hasbro,
Brian Goldner was named CEO of the year by
News Corporation affiliate website
MarketWatch.com. Goldner became the first person not from the founding Hassenfeld family to hold the position. In 2009, the Milton Bradley and Parker Bros. brands were retired after 25 years and eighteen years of Hasbro ownership respectively. That same year,
Hasbro Studios was formed for TV development, production and distribution. On December 11, 2012, Hasbro transferred all entertainment divisions to Hasbro Studios, including their LA-based film group, and Cake Mix Studio, the company's Rhode Island–based producer of commercials and short form content. Hasbro collaborated with
Discovery on
The Hub, a cable television network targeting younger children and families, which launched on October 10, 2010. The venture found unexpected success with the revival of the
My Little Pony franchise,
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which became the network's highest-rated program and attracted a significant
cult following among teens and adults. The Hub was renamed Hub Network in 2013, and was rebranded again as
Discovery Family on October 13, 2014. In 2013, Hasbro renewed its deal to produce
Marvel Comics and
Star Wars toys through at least 2020. In 2011,
Greenpeace accused Hasbro of purchasing paper for its packaging from ancient forests in Indonesia. Hasbro changed its paper purchasing policy, earning the company praise from Greenpeace executive director
Phil Radford, who said: "The new Hasbro policy will also increase the recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper in its toy packaging. Hasbro's new commitments are great news for Indonesian rainforests and the people and wildlife that depend on them." By April 2011, Hasbro started 360 Manufacturing Services, a contract
OEM game manufacturing operating out of Hasbro's nearly 1,000,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in
East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, United States. Having been absent from the building block market since the failure of the Built to Rule line, Hasbro re-entered the market with the
Kre-O line in late 2011, starting with some
Transformers-based sets. As of fiscal year 2012, Goldner had a total calculated compensation of $9,684,285. On July 9, 2013, Backflip Studios sold a 70% stake in the company to Hasbro for $112 million in cash. On November 6, 2012, it was rumored that
Disney was discussing a multi-billion dollar deal to acquire Hasbro. While Hasbro declined to discuss the rumor, advisors stated there was "absolutely nothing going on" they knew of between the two companies. Additionally, financial analysts said the deal was illogical, as the rumor came out just a week after Disney had bought out
Lucasfilm. On November 12, 2014, it was reported that Hasbro was in talks to buy
DreamWorks Animation. The proposal reportedly calls for the combined company to take the name "DreamWorks-Hasbro" and for
Jeffrey Katzenberg to become its chairman, but as a matter of policy, neither Hasbro nor DreamWorks publicly comment on mergers and acquisitions. Two days later, the talks were reported to have fallen through. The company has been owned by
Comcast subsidiary
NBCUniversal since 2016. On July 14, 2015, the company announced the intent to sell its last two factories, in Waterford, Ireland and East Longmeadow, Massachusetts (including its 360 Manufacturing Services), to
Cartamundi. The deal was set to close in sixty days. Hasbro signed a five-year deal with Cartamundi to produce their board games at the East Longmeadow plant. With Mattel adding two competing lines, and the expiration of their
Disney Princess license at the end of 2015, Disney gave Hasbro a chance to gain the license given their work on
Star Wars, which led to a
Descendants license.
DCP was also attempting to evolve the brand from one of them less as damsels and more as heroines. In September 2014, Disney announced that Hasbro would be the doll licensee for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1, 2016. On July 13, 2016, Hasbro acquired Dublin-based
Boulder Media Limited and placed it under the control of its chief content officer. Hasbro announced that it would launch its own convention, named
HasCon, and featuring "all things Hasbro" in 2016, with the inaugural event being held at the
Rhode Island Convention Center in September 2017. On November 15, 2017, Mattel rejected an offer from the company. At the time, Mattel's worth was $5 billion, while Hasbro's worth was about $11 billion. On February 27, 2018,
Variety reported in a detailed article that Hasbro came close to buying Lionsgate (now
Starz Entertainment), exploring options to expand its entertainment division and bolster its content production capabilities due to interest in film and television ventures, but the deal fell through.
2018–2021 On February 16, 2018,
Saban Brands appointed Hasbro as the global master toy licensee for
Power Rangers with a future collaboration and option to purchase the franchise. On May 1, 2018, Hasbro agreed to purchase
Power Rangers and other entertainment assets from Saban Brands for $522 million in cash and stock with the licensing fee recently paid with credit. The sale, which also collaborated with
My Pet Monster,
Popples,
Julius Jr.,
Treehouse Detectives and additional properties, was expected to close in the second quarter until it was finished with Saban's collab. On October 19, 2018, the company announced plans to cut jobs amounting to less than 10% of its 5,000-plus global workforce in response to changes in how consumers buy toys. In 2018, Hasbro signed a number of licensing agreements for hospitality deals based on Hasbro brands. On May 1, 2018, the Monopoly Mansion hotel agreement was announced by Hasbro, with M101 Holdings overseeing construction and M101's Sirocco Group assigned to manage the hotel when it opened in 2019. Later in May 23, 2018 launched the lost kitties franschise. Lost Kitties were cat figures hidden in milk cartons. Hasbro granted Kingsmen Creatives a license to build a chain of NERF Action Xperience family entertainment centers, with the first to be opened in Singapore in fall/winter 2019. In November, the company issued a license for family entertainment centers to Kilburn Live, who were to launch a new division for the centers. That December, the company granted a license for theme parks to Imagine Resorts and Hotels, co-founded by Bruce Neviaser. Neviaser had previously co-founded Great Lakes Companies, which launched
Great Wolf Resorts indoor waterpark resorts. On December 18, 2019, Hasbro and
West Edmonton Mall announced that
Galaxyland would get a makeover, with rides being redone and renamed Hasbro properties. Construction was begun later that month and is ongoing as of 2026. On August 22, 2019, Hasbro announced its purchase of
Entertainment One for about US$4 billion. The deal was completed on December 30, 2019. On October 24, 2019, Hasbro announced the closing of Backflip Studios, while its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary purchased
Tuque Games in October. On February 28, 2020, Hasbro announced that Campbell Arnott's former CMO David McNeil had joined the company as the managing director for Pacific operations. On September 30, 2020,
Renegade Game Studios announced they had acquired licensing for creating tabletop games for multiple Hasbro brands. Several of the games would be using the
5E role-playing system owned by Wizards of the Coast. On February 25, 2021, during the 2021 Investor Event, Hasbro announced a company reorganization with three divisions: Consumer Products, Entertainment, and Wizards & Digital. The
Wall Street Journal reported that "Hasbro's net revenue fell 8% last year to $5.47 billion, due in part to retail shutdowns related to Covid-19," however, its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary "posted revenue of $816 million last year, up 24% from 2019, fueled by what Hasbro says were record years for"
Dungeons & Dragons and
Magic: The Gathering. In April 2021, Hasbro agreed to sell eOne Music unit to Blackstone for $385 million, offloading part of the Entertainment One operations that it acquired in 2019.
2021–present: Restructuring and turnaround Hasbro's longtime CEO Brian Goldner died on October 12, 2021, after a 7-year battle with cancer. Richard Stoddart served as the
interim CEO of the company following Goldner's death; Chris Cocks was named as Goldner's successor on January 5, 2022, and became CEO on February 25, 2022. Cocks was formerly the president and chief operating officer of Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro. The
hedge fund company, which owns a 2.5% stake of Hasbro, had been pushing to spin out Wizards of the Coast "into its own company in an attempt to create what they saw was more value by making a second publicly traded company with a more profitable line of business". On November 17, 2022, Hasbro announced they had put Entertainment One up for sale. This includes their film and TV business but would exclude the company's kids and family division, which would remain under Hasbro. On March 15, 2023, it was reported that
Fremantle,
Lionsgate and
Legendary Entertainment are interested in the buyout. However, Fremantle dropped out of the bid while
CVC Capital Partners and
GoDigital Media Group joined in the bid for the eOne buyout. On April 20, 2023, it was reported that Hasbro was in talks with Throop on the possibility of buying the company back. On July 17, 2023,
Deadline reported that Lionsgate was a frontrunner to acquire eOne. In June 2023, Hasbro announced the return of
Furby, an interactive plush toy that was highly popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. On August 3, 2023, Hasbro announced that Lionsgate would acquire Entertainment One for $500 million, with the transaction closed on December 27, 2023. eOne was rebranded as
Lionsgate Canada in 2024, the same year that it became a subsidiary of
Lionsgate Studios. Hasbro kept eOne’s family brands and its stake in
Astley Baker Davies, and created a division called
Hasbro Entertainment later that month, which held Astley Baker Davies and Discovery Family. On December 12, 2023,
TechCrunch reported that paperwork Hasbro filed with the SEC contained information announcing layoffs of 1,100 employees (20% of their entire workforce across all divisions) effective immediately. President and COO Eric Nyman left the company. Hasbro's CEO, Chris Cocks, stated that this reduction is part of a broader cost-saving strategy, aimed at saving $350 million to $400 million by 2025, with a renewed focus on high-profit areas like licensing and entertainment, particularly in the
Wizards of the Coast division. Hasbro also announced to have signed a deal with
McFarlane Toys as part the latter's Page Punchers line-up. On February 13, 2024, following the completion of its sale of Entertainment One assets, Hasbro reported losses of $1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023 and $1.49 billion for the full year, resulting in its entire total net income from December 31, 2019 to December 31, 2023 to plummet to $0. The company now plans to cut its costs by $750 million by December 31, 2024. On July 18, 2024, Hasbro announced the appointment of two new leadership positions: Holly Barbacovi, former COO of Bungie, as Chief People Officer, and
John Hight, previously the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Warcraft Franchise at
Blizzard Entertainment, as President of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming. On November 20, 2024, Cocks announced to
Bloomberg that Hasbro would stop co-financing future movies based on the company's list of brands in order to focus on mobile games and digital entertainment, leaving film studios that hold the film rights to various Hasbro brands to exclusively finance such projects. On September 8, 2025, Hasbro announced that after 63 years, it would move its global east coast headquarters from Pawtucket to the 400 Summer Street tower in Boston, Massachusetts. Headquarters for the company's gaming and digital divisions, including Wizards of the Coast would remain in Renton, Washington. The move is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. On April 1, 2026, Hasbro announced that it was investigating a cybersecurity incident after identifying unauthorized access to its network on March 28, with help from third-party cybersecurity professionals. On April 13, 2026, Hasbro announced a deal with
Get After It Media to launch
Hasbro Legends, a new network on
over-the-air television and as a
FAST channel. == Subsidiaries ==