Ozempic Wars | The Hundred-Year Duel | 1

It's 2001 and a 30-year-old Elon Musk has just been fired from Pay-Pal, the company he co-founded. In need of a second act, he hits on the idea of bankrolling a bizarre Mars mission.But he's not the o...

11 Jan 202129min

With the world plugging into the Internet, toys are under pressure. Kids are swapping plastic play for screen-based entertainment and both Mattel and Hasbro need to adapt. The question is: how?Mattel’...

6 Jan 202128min

A few months ago, Mattel’s revenues were just fifty million dollars behind Hasbro’s. But now that Hasbro’s swallowed Tonka—the classic maker of Nerf, Play-Doh, and Monopoly—Mattel is half a billion do...

4 Jan 202123min

It’s the early 1980s and things are not looking good for Hasbro. The company hasn’t had a hit since Hungry Hungry Hippos; its founding CEO Merrill Hassenfeld has just died; now Star Wars dolls have ju...

30 Dec 202023min

Sizzlers, Mattel’s new motorized Hot Wheels, were supposed to be the top toy this Christmas. But sales have fizzled, leaving Mattel $30 million below target. For the last ten years, Mattel’s done exce...

28 Dec 202024min

It’s the 1960s and Hasbro is struggling. The pencil manufacturer turned toymaker hasn’t had a major success since Mr. Potato Head hit the shelves in 1952, and it’s starting to lose money. If the compa...

23 Dec 202023min

It’s the late 1940s and two small toymakers are taking their first uneasy steps. The names of these young hopefuls are Hasbro and Mattel. One’s an offshoot of a pencil manufacturer. The other a husban...

21 Dec 202026min

With TikTok’s legal future hanging in the balance, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t been shy about borrowing what works from the Chinese upstart and replicating it within Instagram. But his copycat...

16 Dec 202022min