Wednesday October 13, 2021
Two days after sick leave
Long-time Hasbro boss dies at the age of 58
Brain Goldner has headed Hasbro for twelve years. During this time, the US toy manufacturer celebrated great success with characters from the “Star Wars” series and the “Marvel” universe. Now Goldner died surprisingly.
The long-time boss of the US toy manufacturer Hasbro, Brian Goldner, died on Tuesday, according to the company. The 58-year-old had taken sick leave just two days earlier and announced that he would be taking time out for medical treatment. Goldner was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. Last year he announced that he would continue to be treated for this. “Brian’s death is a tremendous loss to Hasbro and the world as a whole,” the company said. No cause of death was named.
Goldner joined Hasbro in 2000 and has been responsible for day-to-day operations since 2006. Two years later he rose to the top of the company. Since then, revenues have increased by more than 35 percent to around four billion US dollars, the equivalent of 3.5 billion euros. Hasbro is behind the board game classics “Monopoly”, “Trivial Pursuit” and “Scrabble”, the “Play-Doh” clay as well as “My Little Pony” and the “Super Soaker” water pistols.
The expansion into the entertainment business helped Hasbro navigate the changing industry – kids are spending more and more time playing digital games. The license for Disney toys for the “Star Wars” series and the “Marvel” cartoon characters was a success. With characters like the “Transformers” robots, Goldner also established the company in the film business. The chief position at Hasbro was provisionally taken over by Rich Stoddart, a marketing expert and long-time member of the board of directors of the games company.
Hasbro was founded in 1923 by the brothers Henry and Hillel Hassenfeld in the US state of Rhode Island. Initially, the company produced school supplies. It wasn’t until 20 years later that Hasbro started producing toys.