Former Mattel Exec Gets $5.4 Min Cash Payout

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Mattel Inc. (MAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) executive who left the toy maker in a recent management shake-up that came amid slumping Barbie sales will receive a cash payout of $5.4 million and keep perks including a country club membership, the company said in a regulatory filing.


Matthew Bousquette, whose departure was announced in October when the company consolidated its Mattel Brands and Fisher-Price Brands divisions, will get his current year bonus of $655,605, plus an amount equal to three times his base salary and bonus, Mattel said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dated December 28.

Unless he finds "substantially similar" employment elsewhere, Bousquette, who was president of the Mattel Brands division that oversaw Barbie, can keep his country club membership, company-provided automobile and other perks for about two more years.

"I would say it's a very rich deal," said Paul Dorf, managing director at Compensation Resources Inc. "If this guy was the CEO of the parent company, that's one thing, but he's a division head."

Bousquette, in his mid-40s, was with the company for 17 years. His departure came a week before Mattel reported a 12 percent decline in quarterly profit and said U.S. Barbie sales plunged 30 percent. The results sent shares of Mattel to their lowest level in almost five years.

Mattel has revamped its organizational structure twice in recent years as it grapples with soaring raw material costs, heightened competition, and a fall in Barbie sales as rival Bratz dolls, made by privately held MGA Entertainment, gain market share.

In return for his payments and benefits, Bousquette agreed not to disclose confidential and proprietary information, and not to recruit Mattel employees for a period of 12 months after he stops receiving payments and benefits.

He also agreed to provide consulting services to Mattel in 2006 and 2007 for $750,000 a year.

Mattel could not immediately be reached for comment.

In afternoon trading, Mattel shares rose 4 cents at $15.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.