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Hasbro names 3 new board members

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PBN Staff

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03/25/2024

HASBRO INC. announced Monday that Frank Gibeau, president of Zynga; Darin Harris, CEO of Jack in the Box Inc.; and Owen Mahoney, former CEO of Nexon Co. have been appointed to the company’s board of directors effective March 21. / COURTESY HASBRO INC.

PAWTUCKET – Hasbro Inc. is shaking up its board of directors with three new members and three retirements. The toy company announced Monday that Frank Gibeau, president of Zynga Inc.; Darin Harris, CEO of Jack in the Box Inc.; and Owen Mahoney, former CEO of Nexon Co., have each been appointed to the company’s board

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PAWTUCKET – Hasbro Inc. is shaking up its board of directors with three new members and three retirements. The toy company announced Monday that Frank Gibeau, president of Zynga Inc.; Darin Harris, CEO of Jack in the Box Inc.; and Owen Mahoney, former CEO of Nexon Co., have each been appointed to the company’s board of directors effective March 21. “We are thrilled to have Frank, Darin and Owen join our accomplished and diverse board of directors,” said Rich Stoddart, Hasbro’s board of directors. “They all have an immeasurable amount of leadership experience working across online and mobile gaming, as well as leading storied consumer brands and franchises. Each of them will add tremendous value and unique perspective to our board. I look forward to working hand in hand with them to further unlock the value of our award-winning brands and build out our long-term innovation and growth strategy.” Also on Monday, the company also announced that at the annual shareholders meeting on May 18, Tracy Leinbach, Linda Zecher Higgins and Michael Burns will retire from the board. After that meeting, Hasbro’s board will consist of 11 members. “Tracy, Linda and Michael have been instrumental in steering Hasbro and I’d like to thank them for their support and guidance over the past few years,” said Hasbro’s CEO Chris Cocks. “We are especially grateful for their dedication in ensuring our new board members are well positioned to support the company’s evolving priorities, as we refocus on play and lean into our strength in games.” In April 2022, Hasbro added two members to expand its board to 13, with plans to shrink to 11 members by 2024. It was also two years ago that Hasbro management fended off a proxy battle by activist investor Alta Fox Capital Management LLC to take three seats on the board, a shakeup that might have led to a spinoff of its lucrative Wizards of the Coast division. None of Alta Fox's nominees garnered enough votes from shareholders. In addition to the board changes announced Monday, Hasbro said Alan Hassenfeld will be stepping down as emeritus chairman following the shareholder meeting. He will continue to help guide the company’s charitable efforts, in addition to his many other philanthropic pursuits. “Alan has been and will always be a prominent architect of Hasbro’s legacy – he is irreplaceable. He will remain part of our DNA as a company that celebrates the magic of storytelling and values the power of play,” said Cocks. “We’ll have more to share soon on how we will honor Alan's legacy, and we will continue to work on charitable endeavors together providing development and relief for children around the world through the power of play.” Gibeau has served as president of Zynga, a wholly owned publishing and development label of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., since May 2022. With more than 30 years of experience in interactive entertainment, he led Zynga’s turnaround and transition to rapid growth as CEO from 2016 to 2022, fortifying the company’s portfolio of popular franchises, including Toon Blast, Empires and Puzzles, CSR Racing, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker. Prior to Zynga, Gibeau spent more than two decades at Electronic Arts, where he held several influential business and product leadership roles. Darin Harris has been CEO of Jack in the Box Inc. since June 2020. Prior to that, he was CEO of North America for IWG PLC, Regus, North America. He has also served as CEO of CiCi’s Enterprises LP and Chief Operating Officer for Primrose Schools. Harris previously held franchise leadership roles as senior vice president at Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. and as vice president of franchise and corporate development at Captain D’s Seafood Inc. Owen Mahoney served as CEO and president of Nexon Co. Ltd. from March 2014 until his retirement in March 2024. He joined Nexon in 2010 and served as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer until 2014, responsible for managing the company’s finances, global operations, investments and strategic alliances. Previously, Mahoney was senior vice president of corporate development at Electronic Arts from 2000 to 2009, where he was responsible for worldwide mergers and acquisitions and business development, leading all acquisitions and equity investments. On March 13, Hasbro posted a loss of $1.49 billion in what the company called a “challenging” 2023. Revenue for the year totaled $5 billion. On Dec. 11, Hasbro announced it would lay off an additional 1,100 employees globally as part of a further company restructuring and would leave its Providence office adjacent to the Amica Mutual Pavilion and Providence Public Library by the end of 2024. That followed an announcement earlier in 2023 that the toy and entertainment company was going to cut 1,000 jobs during the year to save up to $300 million annually by 2025. Those layoffs included a 20% reduction in staff at the company’s film production company, Entertainment One. On Dec. 28, Hasbro completed the sale of its Entertainment One film and TV business to Lionsgate for $375 million. the sale included unscripted television production companies Renegade and Daisybeck and its interest in the Canadian film & TV operations of Entertainment One Canada Limited. That sale was part of Hasbro’s Blueprint 2.0 strategy, with the company continuing to develop and produce entertainment based on its vault of Hasbro brands. The company previously launched a new entertainment division in August to bring its existing film, television, animation and digital businesses under one umbrella.