We are investigating Mattel, Inc. (MAT) (“Mattel” or the “Company”) for potential violations of the federal securities laws.
On August 8, 2019, Mattel announced receipt of an anonymous whistleblower letter and stated that the Company would investigate the letter’s allegations. On this news, Mattel’s stock price fell $2.12 per share, or 15.79%, to close at $11.31 per share. Then, on October 29, 2019, Mattel issued a press release titled “Mattel Completes Internal Investigation of Whistleblower Letter and Announces Remedial Actions”. The press release stated, in part, that Mattel’s “Audit Committee’s investigation found errors in publicly-filed Mattel financial statements for the last two quarters of 2017, failures to properly consider and disclose such errors to the then-Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Margaret Georgiadis, and the Audit Committee once they became known, and violations of auditor independence rules.” On October 29, 2019, Mattel also announced that its Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), Joseph J. Euteneuer, would leave the Company. Finally, on November 6, 2019, the Wall Street Journal published a story entitled “Mattel, PwC Obscured Accounting Issues, Former Executive Says”. Citing discussions with Brett Whittaker, Mattel’s former direct of tax reporting, and a review of relevant documents, the Wall Street Journal article reported, in part, that “[t]he accounting problem was tied to Mattel’s ownership of Thomas & Friends, an animated children’s show”; that “senior finance executives and Mattel’s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, decided to change the accounting treatment of the Thomas asset, effectively burying the problem”; that “the executives agreed not to tell Mattel’s then-chief executive or its board of directors”; and that “according to Mr. Whitaker, Mr. Euteneuer would have been aware of the decision not to disclose the error.” On this news, Mattel’s stock price fell sharply during intraday trading on November 6, 2019.