The popularity of furry toys that peck their way out of plastic eggs has hatched a pair of Canadian billionaires.
Childhood friends Ronnen Harary and Anton Rabie each own about 30 percent of Spin Master Corp., the company behind Hatchimals that they co-founded in 1994. Shares of Toronto-based Spin Master have surged 56 percent this year, giving Harary and Rabie each a net worth of $1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Spin Master declined to comment, citing the so-called quiet period that precedes the release of its third-quarter results, scheduled for Nov. 7.
The blockbuster success of Hatchimals fueled a quadrupling of sales in Spin Master’s remote control and interactive characters segment, helping make it one of the world’s fastest-growing toymakers.
Its market capitalization is now on par with Mattel Inc., which has tumbled 43 percent this year after a lackluster holiday season and declining sales of Barbie dolls, its biggest property. Spin Master had revenue of $1.2 billion in 2016 compared with $5.5 billion for Mattel.
The rise of Spin Master, which also makes Meccano construction sets and Etch A Sketch, puts Harary and Rabie among a select group of billionaire toymakers, including Alan Hassenfeld, the grandson of Hasbro Inc.’s co-founder, and four members of the Kristiansen family, whose ancestor Ole Kirk Kristiansen created Lego in 1932.
The Kristiansens have the world’s largest toy fortune, most of it derived from their 75 percent control of Lego A/S. The Danish company had revenue of 37.9 billion Danish kroner ($6 billion) in 2016 and is valued at $22 billion by the Bloomberg index. Hasbro shares have climbed 24 percent this year, driven by the success of its digital products, and made Hassenfeld a billionaire.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
