Who owns Barbie?
Barbie is owned by Mattel (the United States, NASDAQ: MAT).[1]
Evidence: Mattel, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-23, SEC EDGAR, 23 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Mattel, Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, El Segundo, California
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1959
- Category
- Home care › Household goods & storage › Writing instruments & office
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: MAT
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Barbie
Barbie was launched in 1959 after co-founder Ruth Handler noticed her daughter preferred giving adult roles to paper dolls, and based the figure on a German novelty doll. The 2023 film grossed over a billion dollars and materially changed the company's strategy.
What Mattel's annual report says about Barbie
Sentences about Barbie from Mattel's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Empowering girls since 1959, Barbie has inspired the limitless potential in every girl, sparking imaginations and shaping futures through play.
Dolls Barbie continues to innovate, creating purpose-driven marketing campaigns and engaging toys connected to a strong system of play.
Barbie has a broad range of product offerings, with product lines designed to appeal to children of multiple age groups, complemented by a Barbie Signature line with high-quality dolls that appeal to fans of all ages.
How often Mattel names Barbie in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of Barbie
Where Barbie sits in Mattel
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Mattel ownership tree →
See the full Mattel brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Mattel
Mattel controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in home care.
Also in home care
- American Girl (1986)
- Fisher-Price (1930)
- Hot Wheels (1968)
- Matchbox (1953)
- UNO (1971)
Other brands in writing instruments & office, and who owns them
The 69 brands in writing instruments & office on Brandtree belong to 20 owners. The largest is F.I.L.A., with 15; Mattel has 6.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Arches | F.I.L.A. | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| Acroball | Pilot | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Dungeons & Dragons | Hasbro | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Creepy Crawlers | JAKKS Pacific | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Flair | Flair | 🇮🇳 India |
| Éxito | Ledesma | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| Colokit | Thien Long Group | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
| Funko | Funko | 🇺🇸 United States |
About the owner: Mattel
Mattel is a publicly listed company headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States, founded in 1945. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: MAT.
Mattel was founded in a Californian garage in 1945 making picture frames, then dollhouse furniture from the offcuts. It became the largest toy company in the world on the strength of Barbie and Hot Wheels, and has recently rebuilt itself around licensing its properties into film.
🇺🇸 Barbie and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,550 brands that began in the United States. 479 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Barbie is not one of them.
- 3-IN-ONE — WD-40 Company 🇺🇸
- Air Wick — Reckitt 🇬🇧
- Ajax — Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸
- All-Clad — Groupe SEB 🇫🇷
- Amazon Basics — Amazon 🇺🇸
- Arm & Hammer — Church & Dwight 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Barbie?
The parent company of Barbie is Mattel, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Barbie American?
Yes. Barbie originated in the United States in 1959 and its owner, Mattel, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Barbie still owned by Mattel?
Yes. As of 9 October 2026, Barbie is still owned by Mattel. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Mattel, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-23 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 23 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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