A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

In October, Audrey Hepburn attended Mattel's IPO on Dow Jones, where her elegant gown drew a flurry of camera flashes from the American media.

This 'aristocratic descendant' with dual American and British citizenship is highly sought after in a country like the United States, often considered a backwater. The media perception of Audrey Hepburn is that she was not only the 'Queen' of Monaco, but also the godmother of the world's most popular toy, Barbie.

Today, Barbie dolls have achieved total sales exceeding 5 million US dollars, making them the most beloved toy for girls worldwide, bar none.

Standing next to Audrey Hepburn was Oris, the CEO of Mattel. This white American, who had joined Mattel from its inception, was the main executive in the promotion and marketing of Barbie dolls. Oris was quite successful in his work on Barbie's career development, costume design, racial development, and so on.

After Mattel went public, one of the "investors," Chen Wenjin, sold most of his shares to American investment institutions, retaining only a small stake. Meanwhile, "founder" Audrey Hepburn retained only 35% of the shares, remaining the largest shareholder and serving as the company's chairperson.

This was during the peak of the last bull market in the US stock market. Mattel's IPO brought Chen Wenjin tens of millions of US dollars in wealth. With this wealth, he could naturally continue to invest in real estate and hotels.

With the sound of a gong, Mattel officially went public, and its stock began trading on the stock exchange.

Reporters at the scene began interviewing Audrey Hepburn:

Reporter: "Ms. Hepburn, after Mattel goes public, will it continue to develop the Barbie brand, or will it plan to diversify its business?"

This issue also revolves around the concerns of new investors.

Audrey Hepburn said, "Matte's diversification is inevitable, but diversification does not mean cross-industry development, but rather the development of new toy IPs."

These words immediately caused a stir among the crowd.

It's worth noting that CEO Oris has stated on multiple occasions that Mattel will consider diversification after going public.

Does this indicate that there is already a conflict between the founders, led by Audrey Hepburn, and the management team, led by Oris?

Reporter: "Barbie's success is like a miracle. And Mattel's competitor, Hasbro's G.I. Joe, has seen its sales soar since its launch."

Audrey Hepburn: "I don't think everyone is a competitor, because Barbie is a global phenomenon."

The implication is that Barbie dolls have a much larger audience than G.I.E.L.D. toys.

The journalists adored Audrey Hepburn, and the following day, American media also lavished praise on her.

But Audrey Hepburn was in for another big problem.

Because Chen Wenjin sold most of his shares, the new investors became eager for Mattel's development after the IPO; these new investors began to support CEO Oris in diversifying Mattel's business.

So, one day after the IPO, Mattel's board meeting began.

At the start of the meeting, a new director and representative of the investor institution asked, "Ms. Hepburn, President Oris, Mattel chose to go public, I think that's for diversification. Otherwise, what are we going to do with the funds raised from the IPO, just leave them in the bank to earn interest?"

Everyone laughed.

At this point, Oris also revealed his 'ambition', saying, "Don't rush, everyone! Mattel's decision to go public is definitely for better development, so whether it's diversification or creating new toy IPs, these will all be considered by us."

Everyone nodded and waited for Audrey Hepburn to speak. This beautiful and noble woman was in no hurry at all.

She then gracefully stated, "Matte Toys' achievements over the years are the result of the combined efforts of all management and employees. At the same time, it is the continuous and in-depth development of Barbie that has made Mattel Toys what it is today. In fact, the development of Barbie is only just beginning."

Everyone listened to Audrey Hepburn's speech, seemingly immersed in it, realizing how much the founder had poured her heart into Barbie dolls.

However, Audrey Hepburn quickly changed the subject: "Of course, Mattel needs to diversify, which is also the purpose of going public, I don't deny that. But how to diversify is something I have to personally propose. One thing is certain—we must diversify around the theme of toys. These are two directions I've recently prepared, you can take a look."

Oris was surprised; he hadn't expected Audrey Hepburn to have such a trick up her sleeve.

He has always acknowledged that the development of Barbie dolls, besides the efforts of himself and his colleagues, was closely related to Audrey Hepburn's occasional 'suggestions'. For example, starting in the 60s, Barbie dolls began to have various new professions, including pilots and flight attendants; from the mid-60s, Barbie dolls also began to have racial and ethnic diversity. But overall, the effort was still made by him and his colleagues, as Miss Audrey Hepburn was often not in the company and rarely even present.

Investors, directors, and management all received a stack of documents.

"Option 1: Acquire Romper Room, the world's largest producer of children's television programs. Leveraging this platform will allow for better integration with toys and the development of intellectual property."

"Option Two: Establish a new project team called 'My Little Pony.' Start with the earth horse, and add unicorns, pegasus, flutter pony, and even seahorses. Film animation."

After reviewing the information, everyone applauded, and they no longer doubted Audrey Hepburn's abilities.

And Oris and the rest of the management team will naturally have to submit again.

New York winters bring biting winds, but they can't dispel the tension between the two giants of the toy industry.

In early November, in a conference room at Mattel's headquarters, Audrey Hepburn pushed a Romper Room financial statement to the center of the table, her champagne-colored nails lightly tapping the paper: "This world's largest children's television program production company is a key step in our 'content + toy' strategy, and we must acquire it."

CEO Oris nodded in agreement, his finger tracing the core data on the report—Romper Room holds television broadcasting rights in 120 countries worldwide, covering 80% of children's households in the United States alone, and its "Good Morning Teacher" IP keeps countless children glued to their televisions every day. "We've calculated that integrating Barbie dolls into the programs after the acquisition is expected to boost doll sales by another 30%," Oris added. "Moreover, Romper Room's program production team is perfectly suited to support the launch of the 'My Little Pony' animation project."

At this time, Mattel was much larger than Hasbro. After all, Barbie was so successful, with nearly $6000 million in raised funds in its accounts. The $4500 million needed to acquire Romper Room was not a difficult task for them. Audrey immediately made the decision, with Oris leading the team to begin negotiations with Bernice Burton, the founder of Romper Room, within three days.

However, the night before Oris was to depart, a report in the Wall Street Journal disrupted all plans—Hasbro had submitted a preliminary offer to Romper Room for $4200 million, $200 million more than Mattel's initial valuation.

“Meryl Hasenfield is deliberately targeting us!” Oris slammed the newspaper on the table, his face turning ashen.

As Hasbro's second-generation leader, Merrill has been eyeing Mattel's "Barbie empire" since taking over the company in 1960. Now, with the hot sales of the "G.I. Joe" series of toys, he is ambitiously trying to get a share of the children's content market.

What alarmed Oris even more was that the development department led by Merrill's son, Stephen Hasenfield, had just launched the "GI Joe animated short film," clearly intending to replicate the "content-driven toy success" model.

After a moment of contemplation, Audrey said, "There's no use rushing things. We need to find out what Romper Room really needs. Bernice Burton is someone who values ​​'children's education.' Her original intention in creating Romper Room was to convey positive values ​​through the program, rather than simply making it an 'advertising vehicle' for toys."

The next day, Oris knocked on the door of Romper Room with a brand new proposal.

When faced with Bernice, he didn't rush to discuss the price, but instead presented the "Barbie Education Project": "We plan to collaborate with Romper Room to develop a special 'Career Development' program, in which Barbie will teach children about different professions as a doctor, scientist, and astronaut. At the same time, we will donate $100 million to establish a 'Children's Education Fund' for Romper Room's charity program production."

Bernice's eyes flashed with emotion, but she quickly frowned again: "Hasbro has also proposed a similar charity plan and promised to incorporate the role of 'Special Forces' into the program to teach children 'courage and responsibility'."

Oris was prepared. He pulled out the animation script for "My Little Pony": "Look, this is a brand new IP we are preparing. The main characters are a group of ponies who love peace and help each other. There are no violent elements, which is more in line with Romper Room's educational philosophy. Moreover, we promise that the proportion of toys in the program will not exceed 10%, and we will never compromise the purity of the content."

Meanwhile, at Hasbro's headquarters, Stephen Hasenfield was complaining to his father, Merrill: "Mattel is too cunning! They actually used 'educational philosophy' to persuade Bernice! Should we raise the price?"

Merrill shook his head, tapping his fingers on the table: "Raising the price isn't a long-term solution. Bernice values ​​the company's 'independence' most. We can promise that Romper Room's production team will remain unchanged after the acquisition, and we'll even give Bernice the title of 'honorary president' for life."

A contest "beyond price" has quietly begun.

At Mattel, Audrey personally visited Bernice, and the two discussed everything from children's education to women's independence. Audrey used her own experience as an example to explain how Barbie dolls encourage girls to pursue their dreams through "diverse career images," which coincided with Bernice's philosophy of "making every child see possibilities."

Meanwhile, Hasbro, through Merrill, leveraged its "channel advantage," promising to link Romper Room's programming with its toy retail stores, airing clips of the show in hundreds of stores across the United States to generate more exposure.

The negotiations reached a stalemate, leaving Bernice struggling to make a decision.

In early December, an unexpected incident disrupted the balance. Stephen Hasenfield, in an effort to "show sincerity," brought toy models of "G.I.E." to the Romper Room recording studio, hoping to familiarize the staff with the characters beforehand. However, the "realistic weapons" on the models sparked dissatisfaction among the parents of the young actors, with some even complaining to the media that "Hasbro wanted to bring violent elements into children's programs."

Upon hearing the news, Bernice's face immediately darkened.

She immediately called Oris: "I agree to Mattel's proposal. But I have one condition: the animation of 'My Little Pony' must be created by Romper Room's team to ensure that the content conforms to the psychological development of children."

Oris was overjoyed and immediately sent the news back to Mattel headquarters.

Upon learning of this, Audrey immediately instructed the finance department to finalize the acquisition price—$4800 million, $600 million higher than Hasbro's offer. However, the offer included a series of clauses such as "preserving the independence of the production team" and "establishing an education fund," demonstrating both sincerity and laying the foundation for future cooperation.

When the news of Mattel's formal acquisition agreement with Romper Room was announced, Hasbro's conference room fell silent.

Stephen Hasenfield clenched his fist and said unwillingly, "We lost because of the 'violence' label. If we had focused on promoting the 'Little Fairy' toy series, the result might have been different."

Merrill sighed and patted his son on the shoulder: "We were too hasty this time. We wanted to expand quickly by riding the wave of 'G.I. Joe,' but we overlooked the fact that the core of children's content is 'purity.' But it's okay, we still have a chance—to acquire another children's television station."

Although Hasbro missed out on Romper Room, it doesn't mean they admit defeat.

Stephen nodded and said, "Damn it, Audrey Hepburn wasn't a real American, yet she bought up an American television station this time. Those damned British."

In fact, this was also a public relations tactic they used to attack Mattel during this acquisition.

Mattel gave three reasons: First, Mattel has been based in the United States since its inception; second, Audrey Hepburn was an American citizen and was only one of the co-founders, all of whom were American citizens; third, Mattel is a publicly traded company in the United States, and its shareholders are all Americans.

Legal and compliant.

In addition, Audrey Hepburn was very popular in the United States, so Hasbro's tactics were in vain!
Meanwhile, at Mattel headquarters, Audrey and Bernice were looking through character design sketches for "My Little Pony".

Bernice pointed to a pink pony and said, "Let's name her 'Twilight Sparkle,' which symbolizes knowledge and hope."

Audrey smiled and nodded: "It's a good name, just like the light that Romper Room brings to children."

This acquisition not only gave Mattel a firm grip on the "screen gateway" to children's content, but also validated Audrey's strategic vision of "IP + content + education".

Although Hasbro failed to acquire Romper Room, it did not give up. Instead, it forged a deep-seated rivalry with Mattel, and a fierce competition between the two was imminent. (End of Chapter)