Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch is stepping down, according to a memo viewed by Business Insider.
Lynch told employees on Wednesday that he’s leaving after more than seven years to run toy giant Mattel, where he’s been on the board of directors since 2018. He’ll remain on Condé Nast’s board.
Current Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, who had looked to expand the Barbie parent into entertainment, will step down on Friday. Mattel shares, which are down 21% in the last 12 months, fell more than 2% on Wednesday as US stocks broadly rose.
Mike Perlis, who’s currently Condé Nast’s lead independent director, will be the interim CEO of the publishing company behind Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and GQ.
Under Lynch, Condé Nast became profitable. Condé Nast has grown digital subscriptions by 155% and revenue from commerce by 170% since 2020, and extended its events business, Lynch told employees.
Condé Nast has had to “navigate complicated relationships with big digital platforms like Meta and Google” which no longer drive as much web traffic to publishers, Business Insider’s Peter Kafka wrote.
“This is an industry that’s been under pressure. There are fewer jobs in it than there were five years ago,” Lynch told Kafka in May.
The outgoing CEO’s exit memo thanked staffers for their resilience in a shifting media landscape.
“Together, we navigated a pandemic, enormous disruption across our industry, and a media landscape that seemed to change beneath our feet every year,” Lynch wrote. “There is no doubt that we transformed Condé Nast for a new era.”
Condé Nast parent company, Advance Publications, said in a statement that it was grateful for Lynch’s leadership since 2019.
“Roger has led Condé Nast successfully through a period of enormous change,” said Steven Newhouse, Advance Publications’ co-president.
Before joining Condé Nast, Lynch was the CEO of entertainment companies like streaming TV service Sling TV and internet radio company Pandora.
Now, Lynch is headed to Mattel, which is trying to find its footing in entertainment. While “Barbie” was a billion-dollar hit in 2023, June’s “Masters of the Universe,” based on the He-Man toys, bombed at the box office. Mattel’s next toy-to-movie test comes with the debut of “Matchbox: The Movie” on Apple TV on October 9.
Here is the full memo from Lynch:
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