Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....

 dolls, Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels is a brand of die cast toy car, introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to the Matchbox brand from Tyco.-Models:...

 and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel....

, American Girl

American Girl (company)

American Girl is an American line of 18-inch dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray ten-year-old girls of a variety of ethnicities living in various times throughout American history. They are sold with accompanying books told from the viewpoint of the girls...

 dolls, board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

s, and, in the early 1980s, video game console

Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

s. The company's name is derived from Harold "Matt" Matson

Harold Matson

Harold Matson was an American literary agent and founder of the Harold Matson Company. His clients included Evelyn Waugh, C. S. Forester, Arthur Koestler, Malcolm Lowry William Saroyan, Allen Drury, Robert Ruark, Herman Wouk, Evan S...

 and Elliot Handler

Elliot Handler

Elliot Handler was the co-founder of Mattel. With his wife, he was a developer of some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie dolls, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers and Hot Wheels....

, who founded the company in 1945. Handler's wife, Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler was an American businesswoman, born to Jewish-Polish immigrants Jacob and Ida Moskowicz, the president of the toy manufacturer Mattel Inc., and is remembered primarily for her role in marketing the Barbie doll....

, later became president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959.