Who is Inon Kreiz, David Ellison’s Skydance co-CEO?

David Ellison has been fighting for two years to build a media empire. Now he’s bringing in big players to help run it.

Inon Kreiz, retired CEO mattelwill serve as co-CEO after the merger. paramount skydance and warner bros discoverywill be simply called Skydance once the merger is completed on Tuesday.

The new organization will combine the storied film studios of Paramount and Warner Bros. CBS Broadcast Network. A vast portfolio of pay TV networks including CNN, TNT, MTV, and BET. Streaming services Paramount+ and HBO Max are all under one roof.

The appointment of Mr. Kreitz to the chief executive position alongside Mr. Ellison speaks to the governance issues surrounding Mr. Ellison’s aggressive pursuit of legacy media assets. The son of billionaire technology executive Larry Ellison could buy it, but could he lead it?

Just 18 months ago, Ellison was the CEO of Skydance, a film production company with a limited list of hits: the Mission: Impossible series starring Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick.

By August 2025, we had completed the acquisition of Paramount worth approximately $8 billion. About a month later, he began campaigning for WBD, sparking a back-and-forth bidding war that ended in a deal to merge two of Hollywood’s largest media companies, worth about $110 billion on a corporate basis.

Kreitz is a 30-year veteran of the media industry, perhaps best known for bringing Barbie to the big screen in 2023. Despite his recent work in consumer products, he has roots in entertainment and has earned a reputation as a turnaround man.

He will join Paramount Skydance on Monday and become co-CEO after the company closes on Tuesday.

While many on Wall Street have praised Mr. Kreitz for reviving toy maker Mattel through various cost-cutting measures, others are questioning whether his past entertainment experience is enough to move forward with the Skydance merger and how well he and Mr. Ellison will be able to divide duties.

“We are positive about Inon Kreiz’s appointment, as his management experience and focus on brands/IP makes him uniquely positioned to lead the integration of Paramount Skydance and WBD and build the combined business into a best-in-class content and IP platform,” Citizens Bank analyst Matthew Condon said in a research note published this week.

Mr. Ellison will focus on the company’s long-term strategy, creative vision, technology and capital allocation, while Mr. Kreitz will be responsible for the company’s day-to-day management and integrated business integration, the company said in announcing his role.

“Mr. Kreitz has extensive media and entertainment experience prior to his time at Mattel,” Morningstar senior equity analyst Matthew Dolgin said in a research note this week. However, “we do not necessarily think he is the best possible choice for this role.”

“He is definitely an experienced person who fills a previously existing void, and in our view the company is in a better position with him than it would be without him,” Dolgin wrote. “Although his title is co-CEO, we view Mr. Kreitz as our chief operating officer.”

Prior to his eight years as CEO of Mattel, Mr. Kreitz served as CEO and Chairman of Maker Studios, which was sold to Walt Disney Company in 2014. Previously, he was Chairman and CEO of Endemol Group, one of the world’s largest independent television production companies. Early in his career, Kreitz co-founded the children’s entertainment company Fox Kids Group Europe, which was also acquired by Disney in 2002.

“It’s a great choice for Paramount,” Eric Handler, managing director and senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital Partners, told CNBC.

When Kreitz joined Mattel’s executive team in 2018, he became the fourth CEO to take the helm of the toy company in four years. At the time, the company’s Fisher-Price, Barbie, and American Girl brands were struggling to keep up with changing consumer tastes, and Mattel was reeling from the recent bankruptcy of Toys R Us.

“Mattel went from being profitable to losing money for about four years with low revenues, but they turned it around in about two years,” Handler said.

Wall Street analysts told CNBC that Kreitz’s experience righting ships at Mattel will help Skydance navigate the vast and complex merger.

“He really got off to a great start (at Mattel) because of the structural improvements he made,” said Gerrick Johnson, equity research analyst at Seaport Research Partners. “They eliminated a lot of SKUs and streamlined their business lines. They did a great job of cutting $1 billion worth of costs from the get-go, allowing them to be more flexible and get to market faster.”

As part of these cost-cutting measures, Kreitz restructured Mattel’s supply chain, reducing the number of toys it makes, closing several manufacturing facilities, and reducing its overall workforce by 2,200 people. He prioritized free cash flow generation and deleveraging the company’s balance sheet.

“At NetNet, we believe that Mr. Kreitz’s management experience reorganizing and turning around Mattel, combined with his focus on world-class IP development, uniquely positions him to serve in the co-CEO role and lead the integration of Paramount Skydance and WBD. The combination is primarily premised on significant cost synergies, with the ultimate goal of creating a best-in-class content and IP platform,” Citizen Condon wrote.

One of Kreitz’s first major initiatives after acquiring Mattel was the creation of an in-house film division. The strategy was to use box office revenue as a boost to toy sales.

Through this venture, Mattel partnered with Warner Bros. studios to bring Barbie to the big screen. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide and revitalized the Barbie brand.

Although “Barbie” was a box office hit, most of the film’s profits went to Warner Bros. and its theatrical partners. Mattel reported only a $150 million increase in revenue in fiscal 2023, the year the film was released.

“There’s no denying that Barbie has been nothing short of a huge success,” Johnson said. “But for Mattel, it didn’t translate into profits. That year, Mattel increased its operating income by $90 million, or 13% growth on a consolidated basis due to the Barbie movie. Barbie’s revenue increased 3% that year, but Barbie’s revenue since then has declined 22%. …That means the Barbie brand has suffered significantly since then.”

Some Wall Street analysts have suggested that Mr. Kreitz focused too much on the entertainment side of Mattel’s business, leading to stagnant toy innovation and weak sales.

“Earnings have been very stagnant since COVID-19,” Johnson said. “The top line is flat. Margin growth is stagnant. Innovation is stagnant and it looks like a classic case of taking your eye off the ball.”

Mattel stock also “went back and forth during Mr. Kreitz’s tenure,” Morningstar senior analyst Jaime Katz said in a research note published Tuesday. During his time as CEO, the stock price nearly doubled to the mid-$20s, but ultimately fell to around $15 per share.

“Kreitz’s strategy to establish Mattel as an intellectual property-driven, high-performing toy company largely failed,” Katz said.

Still, analysts say Kreitz will be an asset to Skydance and Ellison as they begin a lengthy merger process.

Needham analyst Laura Martin said in a note to investors issued Thursday that the integration of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery into Skydance could take a total of two to three years.

Paramount Skydance said it expects the merger to result in $6 billion in cost savings within three years of closing. At the same time, Mr. Ellison and Mr. Kreitz will face approximately $79 billion in debt after the deal closes.

“Over time, cost synergies are expected to exceed the promised $6 billion,” Martin wrote.

Paramount executives have said the majority of the reduction targets will go to non-payroll costs, but it remains to be seen where exactly those cuts will come from.

Ellison previously said he intended to combine the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services into one platform for consumers. That, of course, may reduce the infrastructure surrounding those businesses.

In film, Skydance is home to Warner Bros. and Paramount Studios in addition to DC Studios, and has lofty production goals to meet.

To resolve a lawsuit by a group of state attorneys general seeking to block the deal due to antitrust concerns, Paramount Skydance has agreed to release at least 30 movies a year theatrically in 2027 and 2028, and at least 32 movies a year in 2029, 2030, and 2031. It is unclear how much cost savings the studio will be able to absorb and meet these quotas.

At CBS, Skydance agreed to a ban on firing writers on its broadcast team for at least five years.

But if the two companies combined, 4,500 film and television jobs in the county would be at risk over three years, according to a report by the Los Angeles Department of Economic Opportunity.

“(Kreitz) has a big job ahead of him,” Handler said. “You know, he’s got a lot of debt and he’s facing a big consolidation situation. But I think he’s going to do a great job with that.”