I am so happy to welcome you all to our time together this evening. My name is Modupe Akinola, and I'm the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business and the faculty director of the Bernstein Center. And I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to be here tonight to give our 2026 Botwinick Prize to Ynon Kreiz. And you've heard and you've seen all these things, the Botwinick Prize, you've seen signs, all that. What is it? It's been established by Bessie and Benjamin Botwinick, who is CBS '26. And no, that is not 2026, that is CBS 1926. He was a well-respected CPA at Benjamin Botwinick & Co., and also he and his wife are founders of the Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation. And this prize gets awarded to an individual or representative of a business organization exemplifying the highest standard of professional and ethical conduct, as well as ethical decision-making and leadership. And we first want to take a moment to recognize our past recipients of this award who have done exemplary things at their organizations and have been able to balance the profit and the purpose perspective. Many of them were very, very much ahead of their time, and so we are so excited to add Ynon to this list. Also, it brings me so much joy to welcome the Botwinick-Wolfensohn family who are here today. The grandchildren, two of the grandchildren, Sarah and Naomi, are here joining us. So let's just thank the Botwinick family for all that they've done. Their support, their energy is unwavering. There's always a representative or many of the family here and also live streaming or on Zoom. And so their support has been incredible. So that's what this prize is, but who decides who's going to receive it? Well, we are egalitarian at Columbia Business School, so students, faculty, alumni, the dean's office help in deciding who has earned this award. And it has been very clear and we all wholeheartedly agree that Ynon's transformational leadership, commitment to responsible brand stewardship, and thoughtful approach to how Mattel and its brands meaningfully influence culture have made him such a well-deserved recipient of this award. Now, Ynon knows what it means to lead through transformation. He joined Mattel in 2018. He helped reshape the company that we know as, 'Oh, yeah, the toy company,' to a global entertainment company. And he's done that while keeping the world's most famous iconic brands at the center of the strategy. And thanks to Ynon and his leadership team, Mattel continues to evolve to better reflect the diversity of our world and the consumers and customers it serves. And here at CBS, you all know that we talk a lot about strategy, innovation, leadership, value creation, but we also ask the hard questions like, 'What decisions will you make as a leader that can profoundly influence culture and society?' And Ynon has done just that at Mattel. He's made big strategic bets. He's built and empowered creative teams. He's navigated partnerships across industries, which is so hard to do. And he's thought carefully about how brands evolve while still remaining true to their core, to who they are. So we are excited to hear about how he thinks about the relationship between business success, leadership, and responsibility. So it is now my pleasure and distinct honor to invite Ynon up to receive the 2026 Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics.
Well, good evening, everyone. Thank you for having me here. It's a great honor, a great pleasure. And Professor Akinola, thank you very much for this honor. I really appreciate it. I respect it and I'm honored to receive this award. The Bernstein Center, the Botwinick family, students and alumni, faculty and staff. It is really an honor and a pleasure to be here. Columbia Business School has long been regarded as one of the world's premier academic institutions, developing leaders who have helped shape societies and industries. The Botwinick Prize for Business Ethics is a high honor, and I want everyone to acknowledge that and recognize it. Seeing the remarkable individuals that have received the award before me is both humbling and inspiring. And I know a few of those people, it's just a great honor to be part of that group. Receiving this award is especially significant knowing that I was actually selected by people here, by the faculty and students here. So thank you so much. It's even more special than receiving it on any other terms. Mattel's brand promise is trust. Trust is foundational to everything we do. Our relationship with our people, consumers, customers, business partners, and communities is built on their belief that we will do the right thing and stand up to our commitments. Families all over the world are welcoming our brands into their homes at some of the most formative times of children's development. This is a privilege and a responsibility that we don't take lightly. Our purpose is to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. And our mission is to create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences, and develop children through play. Our purpose and mission shape the decisions we make every single day because what we create has a lasting impact on children around the world. For more than 80 years, our values have guided how we lead, how we manage our business, and this is how we earn the confidence of families and children, caretakers all over the world. At Mattel, we believe that how we achieve results is as important as the results themselves. Play is our language, and this is how we speak to children and families authentically by representing the world as they see and imagine it. Play is also one of humanity's greatest unifiers. It sparks imagination, builds confidence, strengthens relationships, fosters empathy and inclusion, and creates lifelong relationships. Knowing this recognition reflects the views of you here is especially rewarding, as I said, and this is particularly meaningful. Whether it's Barbie or Hot Wheels, UNO or American Girl, I hope many of you grew up with our brands and still feel the connection, the emotional connection that you felt back in the day until this very time. This award belongs to thousands of people at Mattel who work very hard every single day to fulfill our mission. And I'm proud to accept this award on behalf of all those people everywhere. Thank you again for this distinction. I look forward to our conversation and, of course, I'd love to learn from you, from your questions as much as share with you my experiences. Thank you.
Look, you're now the CEO of Mattel. So many people here at Columbia Business School are on paths to be leaders in a variety of different domains, CEOs, et cetera. I'm curious about early on what values were instilled in you that have shaped how you lead?
You know, it's hard to look back and reflect. I'm still very much in it. But throughout my career, and still until today, there are three values that I believe in, in running Mattel, and these are things that we're trying to embed in our company every day. This is about collaboration, innovation, and execution. I think as a leader, your job is to foster these three values, and if you do that, good things happen. Collaboration is about working as a team, making sure that people partner, communicate, and have a shared mission. Innovation is about doing things better, always trying to look for ways to improve, to build upon the past, bring new ideas, move the ball forward, try to break frame and be original. And this is not just in creative jobs, it can happen in every single work, every part of the company. And execution is about getting things done. It's about being focused on the goals, trying to achieve certain things and being able to actually get to your goal. Now, all of that has to happen with integrity while keeping the how a priority, not just the what, but the how. How do you achieve your goals while you have clear values and you represent companies that actually have an important part in people's lives?
As you think of those three categories, which for you as a leader have you felt requires the most work to get right?
You know, it varies by companies, but this is really about building a culture within each organization to drive these values and make sure that people embrace and make them part of the day-to-day. It's not that we run around and continue to, you know, scream these three words. It's about how we work and making sure that this is part of the day-to-day. But I would say that, you know, one of the first things I've done when I joined the company is spend time to really shape and define our framework, our brand promise, our mission, our purpose, our leadership values, our product attributes. All of those things matter, and we worked to create and define these values so that everybody can share those principles, those values, and pull in one direction as one company.
Now, I've had the privilege of spending time with some of your team, and a few qualities that they said describe you are passionate, thoughtful, calm and collected, creative, and decisive. Do those resonate with you?
Well, it's hard for me to reflect yet, but I would say, you know, when you lead a company, you have to put your people first. It's about building a culture. It's about inspiring, driving, motivating, and being a driver, you know, being a cheerleader. Oftentimes, it's very blurry whether you're the CEO or the head of human resources or people and culture, but so much is about communication, is about inspiration and motivating people to be at their best. And at Mattel, we really do a lot to try to bring out the best of our people. People are different. Everyone is different. People in the crowd here are different from one another, but to achieve a common goal, to unify the team, you have to create a common language and ultimately create an environment that inspires and drives people to be at their best, where they each feel represented, heard, and being able to make a difference. And I really do believe that even when you manage a company that has thousands of employees all over the world, each person can make a difference. Each person can innovate. Each person is part of a team. And our job as leaders is to create that environment and embed it in our culture.
I'm smiling from ear to ear because I just finished teaching our core required leadership course, and one of the things that many of you all remember from the course, right, is one thing you said is a line we use is, 'Different people need different things at different times,' and just that acknowledgement and understanding about how everyone is so different is something that you hit on, but this idea of what it looks like to be inspired and how important it is to create a culture and have values and all that, you've just really emphasized. So thank you for underscoring that. I'm curious because I just want to make sure that the audience knows how much of a superstar we have in our midst, 'cause I want to just walk them through where you've been and what you've done so far, 'cause I want you to share how you think these experiences influenced your leadership. So this man sitting beside me was a founder, CEO, and chairman of Fox Kids Europe, which was acquired by Disney. He was the CEO and chairman of Maker Studios, which creates short-form video content like you see on YouTube that was acquired by Disney. He also was the CEO and chairman of Endemol Group, the world's largest independent TV production company. And if you don't know that name, I know you're probably going to run home and watch 'Big Brother.' Yeah, that was... or 'Deal or No Deal,' he was CEO of a company that deals with that. And then, of course, he spent some time being an investor in early-stage media and tech companies as a general partner at Balderton Capital. So he's seen it all and a lot. The breadth of these experiences, how have they influenced your leadership today?
You know, I've been very fortunate to work with great companies and many great people. I've been fortunate to be the first employee on the ground and start a company from scratch, from an idea, as well as joining a company that has been around for 75 years before me with people all over the world that I have to come in and adapt myself and be able to become part of that platform. In all these companies, the common theme was about working with creative people, thinking about brand management and finding a way to commercialize innovation and creativity in a world that is being changed and redefined by technology. You know, in the early days of Fox Kids, it was the beginning of digital cable television, and we're going back far, you might reveal my age, but it's about, it was a whole new technology that's reshaped television. And as a company, back then, we had to compete with the likes of Disney, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, all owned by major entertainment companies. And we were a startup that had a small portfolio of animated television shows. And we were able to create a company that, as you mentioned, eventually was acquired by Disney. But what was really rewarding is to be able to build this company from the ground up and become the fastest-growing television channel in Europe at the time. But the main theme, the approach was about innovation, is about coming up with a whole new concept of how do you manage these shows and how do you create local television channels that would be able to compete and stand out in a crowded market. And fast-forward to Mattel. Mattel used to think of itself as a toy manufacturing company, and we evolved the company to become from a manufacturing company, to become an IP company, and now a brand management company. And the biggest change in how we think about people who buy our product, they're not just consumers. They're not just consumers who buy items off a shelf. They are fans that have an emotional relationship with our brands. And when you speak to fans in the aggregate, it becomes an audience, and it is a very different conversation when you speak to people who buy items versus an audience that has an emotional relationship with your brands. And doing that changed our DNA, changed how we see our mission, how we approach what we do, and was a key part of our success in building the company and positioning it for long-term growth.
What were some of the key untapped opportunities you saw when you started there?
I would say to me at the time was the fact that the company thought, still was very focused on manufacturing. And I would say manufacturing is still a key part of what we do. This is a fundamental capability, core competence of what we do, but the orientation of the company is much broader than that. It's about managing brands that have been around for decades. We go back two and even three generations of fandom, and the job, the role, the opportunity is to take brands that are timeless and make them timely and keep these brands current, keep them connected with the current culture, keep them important because today's fans don't care that Barbie has been around for over 65 years or Hot Wheels is about to be 60 years old, or that Fisher-Price has been around for more than 90 years. It's relevant to us because we know that these brands stood the test of time. We know that these brands have heritage, value, and depth, and richness of character and relevance, but we need to make them current for today's fans because otherwise you lose connectivity with the market and you become obsolete. So you have to stay true to the DNA, the brand DNA of these incredible heritage brands, but continue to evolve and move forward and embrace current culture and continue to find moments where you connect with audiences to be relevant, be exciting, and be fresh and innovative.
You mentioned Barbie, so we need to go there. We need to go there. I was just looking on the website and we have teal-hair Barbie. As an African American woman, having Barbie with an Afro is just, mm, in my heart. You know, a robotics Barbie, surfer, an astronaut, a soccer Barbie. I mean, the Barbie revolution has just taken over. Tell me more about the process of deciding that it was time to reshape and rethink things, and then I'll also ask you later about the movie, but why don't we start there with the...
You know, the approach, as I said earlier, is to continue to represent the world through the eyes of children. We create a world that represents children's views and imagination. And the world is diverse. The world is varied. There are different ideas. This is not just about gender or race. It's about background, it's about experiences, it's about views. And we're looking to represent the world in the most authentic way. And we all know if you have children, you have siblings, nephews, nieces, children are the most sophisticated consumer out there. They can smell anything that is not authentic a mile away, and we have to continue to be authentic and speak to children at eye level. We cannot fake it. And that authenticity, being organic to the core mission of what we do is key to being successful in reaching our goals. Now, what we also did, in addition to defining the company's mission and purpose, we infused a clear brand purpose into each of our brands. In some cases, it's obvious. You mentioned Barbie. You know, Barbie's purpose is to inspire the limitless potential in every girl. This to many people will be clear and obvious. In many cases, it's not as overt, it's more internal and is our North Star internally in terms of how we think about the brand and the fan journey. And this is what we do organically as a team. So to your question, when we think about how do we speak on behalf of the brand, how do we market and promote the brand? What product we create, what content we produce, what digital games we create, it's all done through that lens. What is the brand purpose and what we create, the experiences that we make, do they speak to that purpose authentically? And as a company, given that we look to represent the world through the eyes of children, we have to be also very, very diverse, be inclusive, and continue to represent different views, different ideas to be relevant and stay relevant for our fans.
There is some research that you embody, you might not have heard of this research, but I'm going to let you know about it. It's called the Daughter Effect. They have found that leaders and managers, male leaders and managers with daughters are more active supporters of women's equality and have more female employees, more female board members. And he mentioned his two daughters who, by the way, when I asked them to describe you as a father, they said, among the many words they mentioned were dedicated and inspirational. Yes, yes. So if this Daughter Effect is true, can you tell us about a moment that you might have had or where you kind of really thought, 'Eh, my decision-making is partially also being shaped by these three beautiful children in my life, or four, but three daughters.'
Yeah. Having three daughters, strong-minded, talented, ambitious at home, and a wife who is playing a key role. My wife is a two-time Olympian who represented Israel in sailing.
Yeah. So I know when I talk high achievers, I know what I'm talking about. Absolutely is always not just in the back of my mind, but the clear part of how I think about the world. And I have to say, my son as well plays a role in that. The questions, the views, their experiences for me are very insightful. And, you know, I can think of one example that was very telling is when I joined Mattel and, you know, caring about our employees and making sure that we have the right policies in place, we did all the work that, you know, you normally do. And then Ili, my daughter who's sitting here, she was at the time, she was 12 years old, came to me and said, 'Abba, is there a pay equity gap at Mattel?'
And I actually checked, and there wasn't, there was 100% pay equity for people doing similar job, 100%. So I said, 'We actually do have pay equity, 100% pay equity.' She said, 'How do you know?' So I said, 'Well, I checked.' 'Well, maybe they didn't tell you the truth.' Said, 'Well, I checked, I asked questions. I know we have 100% pay equity.' She said, 'Maybe, are you sure?' I said, 'You know what? Why don't you talk to our head of HR yourself?' So I put her in touch with our global head of HR. Ili sent her a list of questions, came to Mattel for an interview, she interviewing the head of HR, to validate whether Mattel has 100% pay equity, interviewed the head of HR, came back and said, 'Abba, you're right. There is 100% pay equity.' So, you know, at that age, when you see your daughter or your child that actually care about that, that is even aware of the possibility that there will not be 100% pay equity, was very telling. And, you know, this is one example, there are many along the way, but I learn a lot from my children and my wife, and you have to remain connected and aware of the world around you and having that at home is a privilege.
I will spare you from singing Whitney Houston's 'I Believe the Children are the Future' because this example is clearly demonstrating that. So yay, yay to you, Ili. Hopefully you will want to do business and come to Columbia Business School and keep asking those types of questions in the future and all that good stuff. I'm curious, I mean, you've mentioned your daughters' influence on you and your wife and your sons. What about a key insight that you gained from your leadership team that kind of might have shaped how you thought about things at Mattel?
You know, I learn from my team every day. I do believe that you have to be original, be creative, and, you know, you also have to read people, you know, where people can surprise and change how the organization was thinking about things. And, you know, there was one really interesting experience when I started at Mattel talking about supply chain factories. We actually had many challenges at the time that was a real handicap for the company, and we would change heads of supply chain routinely. And every iteration, things got even more complicated. And when I joined Mattel, seeing the challenges that we've had, I said to myself that I cannot fall into the same trap and bring yet another supply chain leader from another company that will come to the company, to our company and not find his footing. So, said, 'What if we change our approach? What if we change the paradigm and not think about supply chain as a cost center or a service center, but a commercial part of the company?' And if you think of supply chain as a commercial part of the company, the question was, 'Okay, who is our best commercial executive in the company?' Not supply chain executive, but commercial executive. And everyone said, 'Well, we have this really strong leader in Latin America who's a great commercial executive.' So I asked him, 'Why don't you come and run supply chain for Mattel?' He said, 'Supply chain? I never worked in supply chain. And, you know, all I did was commercial work.' But I said, 'Don't think of supply chain as factories and machines and hardware and automation, iron, this is not that. Think of supply chain as a commercial part of the company.' And with that different mindset, with a whole new paradigm of how we think about that core capability, he moved to LA with his family and within months completely reshaped how we think about that part of the business with new thinking, innovative thinking, a whole new approach to that part of the company that everyone thought was tried and tested and was already done in the most optimal way. I learned a lot from that process, from how he thought about the business, what he brought to the table. And that, you know, I only think back of that decision to give him the reins of that part of the company was really important at that point in time and still is, but I learned a lot from him and how he run that part of the organization.
I mean, this idea of shifting mindset and giving somebody the reins takes me back to what I said I'd get back to, which is the 'Barbie' movie. You gave Greta Gerwig the freedom to, you know, be critical of Barbie and be critical of Mattel, yet at the same time tell a unique story. Can you tell us a little bit more about that decision-making process and what went into making that hit such a hit?
Yes, at the time when we looked to create this movie, the 'Barbie' movie, we wanted to do something very different, very original. This was early days when we were looking to implement our IP strategy. So the question actually to begin with was, 'What is our most complicated brand?' Of course, it was Barbie. So we said, 'Okay, let's make it even more complicated and make a live-action movie because an animated movie would've been a lot easier,' not easy, but easier. And of course, if you make a live-action movie, there's only one person who can play the lead role, and that was Margot Robbie. And then we said, 'Okay, how now you make something truly original that will stand out?' And from the very beginning, the goal was to create a cultural event. It wasn't about making a movie to sell toys or for that matter even just, you know, making a movie. It was about creating a cultural event. And we knew we had to bring in someone who would be original, a creator. And we did not want to bring in talented but more traditional filmmakers. And Greta at the time was a 35-year-old director who was critically already had success and critically acclaimed movies that were smaller budget, but she clearly stood out as someone who would be original and an innovator. She never made a big-budget movie before, but we knew that she has what it takes, has the innovation, the creativity to do something very, very unique. And yes, she came in and, you know, to me it was about, 'It's your interpretation, your ideas, imagine. You know, let's, you know, see how you come up, you know, with your version of Barbie.' And she went to write the script. Normally you see a treatment, a short version of the script before, but in this case she went straight to script. She wrote it together with Noah Baumbach, her partner, and they came up with a very original story that at the time looked something that Mattel may not accept because it was critical of Mattel. There was a lot of deprecation of the company, of me and my alter ego at the time. And, you know, when we read the script for the first time, many people at the company said, 'There's no way we will accept it,' because we had approval rights. But of course we wanted something that will stand out and be original. And not only we would accept it, but we will embrace it and amplify it. And sure enough, it worked. It worked. It resonated in culture, but more than anything, it was original. It was different. It wasn't what people expected. And that in and of itself, beyond the creativity and innovation and incredible filmmaking and cast and partnership with Warner Bros. and everything that worked around the movie was the fact that this was an original creation, a different take, a different perspective, a different representation of Barbie that surprised people. And that was foundational to the success of that movie.
Now, you mentioned that Barbie is one of the more complicated brands that you've done so much with. Curious about some of the less-complicated brands and some small tweaks or things that you've made that have influenced how they performed. Now, I mentioned UNO when you started. I look at UNO these days, I'm like, 'What is that card? And what is this one again? And what's this reverse and all this stuff?' And tell us more about any of your other brands, 'cause by the way, I mean, there's Fisher-Price, there's Hot Wheels, there's so much more too.
You know, the one that is really exciting to follow is Hot Wheels, which is actually bigger than Barbie for Mattel. It's a much bigger business for us. Hot Wheels has been on an incredible run and continue to achieve its all-time high for nine consecutive years. Hot Wheels is so much about car culture. It's about lifestyle. It's more than the incredible play and form factor that is also part of the experience. It speaks to adult fans and collectors. We sell Hot Wheels die-cast cars for $1.39 all the way to $700. That's targeting a product that is aimed at adult fans and collectors. There's incredible content, video games, exhibitions, outdoor events, and the brand continues to grow and expand way beyond the original play. But this is really about the Mattel playbook and how we manage our brands. Hot Wheels is the best example of that. Hot Wheels is the true blueprint of the Mattel brand book and how we manage our business, which is much more holistic and much more centered around the brand and innovation around it beyond the play pattern. There is a Hot Wheels in development movie in development at Warner Bros. with J.J. Abrams as producer, and given the appeal and audience of this brand, this could be another exciting opportunity for people to engage with the product. So it's about continue to innovate. It's about thinking beyond the toy aisle, not instead but in addition to the play experience that our brands represent.
Sometimes to be involved in such transformation requires having a set of, I call like my personal board of directors, you know, who gives guidance on some of these things. And so I'm curious about who you turn to for guidance as you make big changes. I mean, I think, you know, sometimes they say it's lonely at the top, so how do you make life less lonely and who do you talk to about some of these things?
You know, we have a very strong leadership team at Mattel. We meet several times a week, depending on the topic. I meet with all of my team individually once a week and we stay very connected. And I try to build consensus. I try to bring people together so that we're unified as a team and you seek different perspectives. You don't want to hear, 'Yes, yes, yes.' You want to hear doubts, you want to hear questions, you want to hear where things can go wrong. So I always turn first to my team, my team and make sure that we all think in different ways about the same issues and try to come to some type of consensus. Also partner with our board, who's a very strong group of individuals with different experiences. I love the diversity and variety of experiences that we have on our board as well. You talked about, you mentioned that before, but, you know, six of 10 board members are not from the US, half are women, very diverse and mixed experience at the board. Even, by the way, on the leadership team, out of 11 people on the team, including myself, nine were not born in the US. Most live in the US today, but there's a really good experience and different perspective that people bring to the table through their careers, their experiences, their background. And I try to build on that. So depending on the situation, you partner and talk to different people, but within Mattel, my team, the board, and, of course, different leaders within the company, there's always someone that has a good idea and an interesting perspective.
When you were giving your remarks, I really was captivated by the phrase you made when you said part of Mattel is about developing children through play. And I just hadn't really thought about that kind of tagline. I just think it's such a powerful one. But one of the things I've realized as I'm less of a child these days, although I still want to be, is that as adults we don't play enough. You know, you mentioned Hot Wheels and the fans who are adult fans that you're cultivating. So I have two questions here. What do you do that you would consider play, and how have you worked on cultivating a spirit of play so that you can create these products that develop children through play?
Yes. You know, we all know play starts at childhood but doesn't end there. And there are different ways to play and bring joy to what you do. We don't just make toys, we make joy. We create joy, and this is part of the mission. What is also interesting is within the toy industry, the traditional physical toy industry, the adult fan and collectors these days is one of the fastest-growing part of the industry. So we're seeing a very large contingent of adult fans and collectors that are driving growth. And this is also in classic product, Barbie collectors, Hot Wheels adult fan and collectors, UNO collectors, Masters of the Universe, American Girl, and so forth. So this is really interesting to see how adult fans also enjoy to engage, engage with our brands. For me, I like sports and I like to do water sports that I still, this is something I've been doing for about 40 years, try to innovate myself the type of sports I do, but spending time in the water and do different types of water sports.
Are you a diver? Do you scuba dive?
Also scuba dive, but more wind sports, I should say. Kite surfing and the like.
Ah, so LA is right for you for that. You know, I want to go back to your earlier days, and I know that there are a lot of entrepreneurs out here and you started that first company, which is not easy to start a company. What advice might you give or what are some of the lessons learned you had from maybe starting prior companies, starting this one, on how to keep pushing along as an entrepreneur?
I think the key thing is to try to find a unique angle, to break frame, not to follow the beaten path. And, you know, looking back into the old Fox Kids days, we were the first children's channel that actually broadcasted in local language across European countries, which today would appear obvious. Why wouldn't you? But back at the time, all the American broadcasters would transmit their channel in English language in places like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and so forth. And we said being not American maybe was too obvious to us that we have to be doing this in local language. And even though our content was not maybe the same quality and production standards, it was the local language and we were able to talk to kids in the language that they could understand and relate to. And that was very, very original. There was another experience that is going to have fun thinking back is when we launched our channel in France, children's channel in France, back at the time there used to be presenters, children presenters that would host the next show on air, but that was expensive. That was too expensive for us to have to hire people that will actually do that and produce these segments. And our team met on a Saturday morning at the office thinking, 'How do we create these presentations? How do we package the shows in the most cheap and cheerful way?' And the head creative guy sitting there with the team, he took a break, went to the bathroom, and while he was standing in the bathroom, he saw two toilet-cleaning gloves, a yellow glove and a pink glove. He came back with his two gloves and started to play with the gloves talking to each other with his own voice. The yellow glove was Roger, the pink glove was Melissa. And they were having a conversation and one of his teammates actually shot that on a video cam and said, 'You know what? Maybe these gloves could be our presenters.' And we actually launched that channel with these two toilet-cleaning gloves as our presenters. Within a week, Fox Kids became the number one children's channel in France, and within three months we were selling music videos and CDs with Roger and Melissa singing children's songs in French. So that was like, who would've thought that you can do that with toilet-cleaning gloves, but it was original, it was creative, and it broke frame. So this was a very, you know, interesting, almost experiment, but it worked. And, you know, still today, it's all about being original, being innovative, being creative, and not follow existing competitors because if you do that, you'll never be able to bypass them. Being original doesn't always guarantee success, but the only way to actually break out ahead of your competitors is be original and do things differently because it might actually work.
And it might work and you might get acquired, which is an amazing thing. And so you've gone through two acquisitions. So, curious to hear about what that experience was like. What did you take away from that? And I say that in the context of our leadership course too. We also talk about how culture is so important. So when you're merging cultures or being acquired, just having that same motivation and that change, it's hard to do. So how did you go about it and how did you think it worked?
You know, each situation is different and when you build a company, you don't do it in order to sell it. You have to build a strong business with strong foundations, with the right commercial model that is resilient. And then depending on the situation, it may lead to an acquisition, but you don't do it with that as a goal. Even when you start a new company, often startups have that in mind at some point to be acquired. I don't believe it can work like that. Companies have to sustain on their own, have a strong business model, and if things work out, it may lead to an acquisition, but you have to be ready to continue to manage and operate the business for the long term and be a standalone successful business in its own right.
I love it. It's not about the outcome. It's about the process and the product. That's so important. Now, you're at Columbia Business School, you were once an MBA yourself or in business school. What were some of the things you wanted to make sure to leave business school having really focused on?
I think if you're a student these days, I can imagine that the world looks complicated, challenging, a lot of moving pieces, especially in nowadays. But, you know, looking back, pick a timeframe. There's always something. There's always something, and there will always, always be something. And you just have to do your best. You know, you study hard. We know that. No one would be at Columbia Business School if they were not great students, A students, and being qualified and, of course, being successful way before you even came here. So everyone here has the talent, has the capability, and it's about perseverance. And it's about continuing to broaden your network, meet people, engage, and eventually you find the right opportunity. And when you do, you have to have a mark. You have to find your claim to fame and start to build your reputation within the organization where you work, and one thing leads to another, and I'm sure everyone here has what it takes to eventually land a great career that will be interesting and exciting.
Was there a piece of advice you got in business school that stuck with you?
