Jill Barad (; née Elikann; born May 23, 1951) is an American businesswoman from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, who was

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Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

from 1997 to 2000.

Career

Jill Barad graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in English Literature and Psychology from

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In college, she worked in cosmetics sales and then became brand manager for the full line of

Coty Coty Inc. is an American multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and retail hai ...

products. After moving to

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, she was an account executive for the Max Factor brand at Wells, Rich, Greene/West advertising agency. She started working at Mattel as a product manager in 1981 and was named CEO and Chairman of the Board in 1997. Barad was one of four women to lead a Fortune 500 company at the time. She helped transformed Mattel from a toy company into a premier global family products company. Under her leadership annual sales rose from $200 million to $2 billion. In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company, the maker of the

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of various ethnicities, faiths, nationalities, and social classes throughout different time periods ...

line of dolls, for $700 million. On behalf of Mattel, Barad donated $25 million to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

to rebuild its Children's Hospital in 1998. The facility is now named the Mattel Children's Hospital. She resigned from the company in February 2000 under pressure from investors following disappointing earnings, largely a result of the acquisition of

The Learning Company The Learning Company (TLC) was an American educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and ...

. She received almost $50 million in

severance pay Severance may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Severance'' (film), a 2006 British horror film * ''Severance'' (novel), a 2018 novel by Ling Ma *''Severance'', a 2006 short-story collection by Robert Olen Butler * ''Severance'' (TV series), ...

. Barad has served on several corporate boards, including

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Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

and

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...

. She was a member of the UCLA Executive Board for the Medical Sciences and the UC Health Services Advisory Committee. She was the Vice Chairman of Town Hall Los Angeles, on the board of fellows of Claremont University Center and Graduate School, trustee emeritus of the Queens College Foundation, and a board member of Girls, Inc. She was also chairman of the executive advisory board of the

Children Affected by AIDS Foundation A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, which she co-founded.

Personal life

Barad is the daughter of Hollywood director Larry Elikann (1923–2004). Jill and her husband Tom continued their philanthropic efforts at UCLA and The Barad Family Children's Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is named after them in the Mattel Children's Hospital.

References

1951 births American chief executives of manufacturing companies American women chief executives Businesspeople from New York City Mattel people Living people Queens College, City University of New York alumni 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople {{US-CEO-stub