--- description: Find out why Mattel was selected for the inaugural list title: TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2021: Mattel image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dccd8ce9378f0ac/698a18e9656a3f5058bdb33d/mattel-time100-companies.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 26, 2021 # Mattel Toying with a media empire by [Rebecca Katzman](/author/rebecca-katzman/) ## Rebecca Katzman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Mattel's Creatable World doll at Mattel's headquarters on September 5, 2019. Mattel's Creatable World doll at Mattel's headquarters on September 5, 2019.Angie Smith for TIME; Dolls: © Mattel Pandemic boredom has been good for Mattel, the company behind some of the world’s most iconic toy brands, including [Barbie](https://time.com/barbie-new-body-cover-story/ "undefined") and Hot Wheels. Its 2020 online sales were up 50%, as dolls, games and puzzles flew off virtual shelves. Even so, CEO Ynon Kreiz no longer sees Mattel as a toy-manufacturing company. Instead, he says, what they do is IP, with dozens of [film and TV projects](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2078633,00.html "undefined") in development and production in partnership with major entertainment companies and big-name actors. (Think a Barbie movie, co-written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, and starring Margot Robbie, and Uno and Whac-A-Mole game shows.) “The opportunity for us is to expand beyond the toy aisle,” Kreiz tells TIME. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953662/mattel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953662/mattel/"},"headline":"Mattel","datePublished":"2021-04-26T15:00:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T05:08:46.494Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953662/mattel/","keywords":["Lists","franchise","TIME100 Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dccd8ce9378f0ac/698a18e9656a3f5058bdb33d/mattel-time100-companies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Katzman","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-katzman/"}],"creator":"Rebecca Katzman","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dccd8ce9378f0ac/698a18e9656a3f5058bdb33d/mattel-time100-companies.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-companies/5953662/mattel/","name":"Mattel"}}]}] ```