David Ellison just brought in a co-CEO to run his new empire: Meet Ynon Kreiz

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David Ellison has spent two years fighting to build his media empire. Now, he's bringing in a heavyweight to help him run it.
Ynon Kreiz, outgoing CEO of Mattel, will serve as co-CEO of the combined Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, to be named simply Skydance, when the merger closes on Tuesday.
The new entity will unite the storied film studios of Paramount and Warner Bros.; the CBS broadcast network; a sprawling portfolio of pay-TV networks that include CNN, TNT, MTV and BET; and streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max, all under one roof.
The appointment of Kreiz to a top executive position alongside Ellison speaks to a governance question that has surrounded Ellison's aggressive pursuit of the legacy media assets: The tech executive and son of billionaire Larry Ellison can buy it, but can he lead it?
Not even 18 months ago, Ellison was the CEO of film production company Skydance with a limited portfolio of hits, namely the Tom Cruise-led Mission: Impossible franchise and "Top Gun: Maverick."
By August 2025, he was successfully closing an acquisition of Paramount, a deal worth around $8 billion. Roughly a month later, he started his campaign for WBD, spurring a back-and-forth bidding war that would ultimately result in a deal worth roughly $110 billion on an enterprise basis to merge two of Hollywood's biggest media companies.
Kreiz is a 30-year veteran of the media space, arguably best known for ushering "Barbie" to the big screen in 2023. He's earned a reputation as a turnaround man, with roots in entertainment despite his more recent stint in consumer goods.
He joins Paramount Skydance on Monday, and becomes co-CEO on Tuesday upon closing.
Many on Wall Street have lauded Kreiz for reviving toymaker Mattel through various cost-cutting measures, though others question if his previous entertainment experience is enough to help navigate Skydance through this merger — and how successfully he and Ellison will share the duties.
"We view the appointment of Ynon Kreiz positively, as his operating experience and brand/IP focus uniquely position him to help lead the integration of Paramount Skydance and WBD and build the combined business into a best-in-class content and IP platform," said Matthew Condon, analyst at Citizens Bank, in a research note published this week.
Ellison's focus will be on the company's long-term strategy, creative vision, technology and capital allocation, and Kreiz will be responsible for the company's day-to-day management and the integration of the combined businesses, the company said in announcing his role.
"Kreiz has extensive experience in media and entertainment from before his time at Mattel," Matthew Dolgin, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, wrote in a research note this week. However, "We don't necessarily think he is the best conceivable choice to handle this task."
"He undoubtedly is an experienced hand who fills a void that had been present, leaving the firm better positioned with him, in our view, than it was without him," Dolgin wrote. "Though his title is co-CEO, we view Kreiz as a chief operating officer."
Mattel turnaround
Prior to his eight-year stint as Mattel CEO, Kreiz was chief executive and chairman of Maker Studios, which was sold to The Walt Disney Co. in 2014. Before that he was the chairman and CEO of Endemol Group, one of the world's largest independent television production companies. Earlier in his career, Kreiz co-founded Fox Kids Group Europe, a children's entertainment company, which was also acquired by Disney in 2002.
"It's an excellent choice for Paramount," Eric Handler, managing director and senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners, told CNBC.
When Kreiz took the helm at Mattel in 2018, he was the fourth CEO in four years to take control of the toy company. At that time, the company's Fisher-Price, Barbie and American Girl brands were struggling to connect with changing consumer tastes and Mattel was reeling from the recent bankruptcy of Toys R Us.
"Mattel had like a four-year revenue downturn, gone from being quite profitable to losing money, and he turned that around in like two years," Handler said.
Wall Street analysts told CNBC that Kreiz's experience righting the ship at Mattel will help Skydance navigate a sprawling and complex merger.
"He got off to a really great start [at Mattel] because he did some structural improvements," said Gerrick Johnson, equity research analyst at Seaport Research Partners. "They eliminated a lot of SKUs, rationalized the business lines ... They did a great job of cutting like $1 billion worth of cost right out of the gate, becoming more flexible, quicker to market."
As part of these cost-cutting measures, Kreiz restructured Mattel's supply chain, reduced the number of toys it produced, closed several manufacturing facilities and reduced the overall workforce by 2,200 employees. He prioritized creating free cash flow and deleveraging the company's balance sheet.
"Net-net, we believe Mr. Kreiz's operational experience restructuring and turning around Mattel, coupled with his focus on developing world-class IP, uniquely positions him for the co-CEO role and to lead the integration of Paramount Skydance and WBD — an integration largely predicated on high expense synergies, and ultimately, building a best-in-class content and IP platform," wrote Citizens' Condon.
Film strategy
One of the first major initiatives Kreiz instituted upon taking over Mattel was the launch of an in-house film division. The strategy was to use the box office as a catalyst for toy sales.
Through this venture, Mattel partnered with the Warner Bros. studio to bring Barbie to the big screen. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, generated more than $1.4 billion at the global box office and revitalized the Barbie brand.
While "Barbie" was a box office hit, most of the revenue from the film went to Warner Bros. and theatrical partners. Mattel reported it received just a $150 million revenue boost in fiscal 2023, the year the film was released.
"You can't argue that Barbie wasn't anything but a tremendous success," Johnson said. "But for Mattel, it didn't translate to the bottom line. Mattel that year generated an incremental $90 million in operating profit, so that's like 13% growth on a consolidated basis with the 'Barbie' movie. Barbie revenue was up 3% that year, but Barbie revenue since is down 22%. ... So, a massive deterioration of that Barbie brand since."
Some Wall Street analysts suggested Kreiz became too focused on the entertainment side of Mattel's business, leading to stagnation in toy innovation and slower sales.
"Post-Covid, earnings have been very stagnant," Johnson said. "The top line has flatlined. Margin growth has stalled. Innovation has stalled, and it just seems like a classic, you know, taking the eye off the ball."
Mattel's stock has also "done a round trip under Kreiz's tenure," Jaime Katz, senior analyst at Morningstar, wrote in a research note published Tuesday. While shares roughly doubled to the mid-$20 range during his time as CEO, they ultimately fell back to around $15 apiece.
"Kreiz's strategy to establish Mattel as an IP-driven, high-performing toy company has largely fallen flat," Katz said.
Merging Paramount and WBD
Still, analysts see Kreiz as an asset to Skydance and Ellison as the company begins a lengthy merger process.
The combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery into Skydance could take between two and three years in total, Laura Martin, analyst at Needham, wrote in a note to investors published Thursday.
Paramount Skydance has said it intends to realize $6 billion in cost savings through the merger within three years of closing. At the same time, Ellison and Kreiz will be facing around $79 billion in debt once the transaction is complete.
"Over time, we expect cost synergies to be higher than the $6 billion promised," Martin wrote.
While Paramount executives have said the majority of that savings target will be found in nonlabor costs, exactly where the savings will come from remains to be seen.
Ellison has previously said he intends to combine the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services into one platform for consumers. That could naturally result in shrinking the infrastructure around those businesses.
In film, Skydance will now be home to the Warner Bros. and Paramount studios in addition to its DC studio — and it will have lofty production targets to meet.
In order to settle a lawsuit by a group of state attorneys general seeking to block the deal over antitrust concerns, Paramount Skydance agreed to release at least 30 films per year into theaters in 2027 and 2028 and at least 32 films annually in 2029, 2030 and 2031. It's unclear how much cost cutting the studios could absorb and still achieve these quotas.
Over at CBS, Skydance has agreed to prohibit writer layoffs on the broadcast team for at least five years.
Yet, a report from the Department of Economic Opportunity in Los Angeles suggests that 4,500 film and TV jobs in the county are at risk over a three-year period when the companies combine operations.
"[Kreiz has] got a big task ahead of him," Handler said. "You know, there's a huge amount of debt, a massive integration situation that he's facing. But I think he'll do a great job with it."

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