The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 15 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Larian: MGA operates with zero outside investors or bank credit lines
“You know, maybe as big as MGA is, We don't have a bank line. We don't have any investors in here because I did that previously, and the banks and the investors are for you. When it's sunny, when it rains, they all run away.”
Larian offered Mattel designer Carter Bryant a 3% royalty for Bratz
“We give you three percent royalty on the dolls, but you must quit Mattel and come here right away.”
Larian: Mattel Uses Litigation to Put Competitors Out of Business
“When you look at the history of Mattel, they have basically used litigation as a business tool to put competitors out of business.”
Quinn Emanuel made $450M representing Mattel in the Bratz lawsuit
“Oh my god, Cohen Emanuel, the law firm that represented, made four hundred and fifty million dollars.”
Larian: LOL Surprise became MGA's biggest toy launch, surpassing Bratz
“And it became the biggest toy ever that we have launched, much bigger than Brad's.”
Larian mortgaged his home for Bratz ads after Toys R Us canceled
“Toys R Us cancels five and a half or six million dollars worth of Brad's orders. I thought, now for sure we're gonna go out of business, so I went without my wife's approval, got a second mortgage in our, on our house, and put another one and a half million do…”
MGA sued Lucasfilm over Star Wars licensing and won
“And we ended up in litigation with Lucasfilm, which I won, but that really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I said, the hell with it. I don't want to work for these entertainment companies. I want to make my own IP.”
Larian resold canceled Bratz inventory to Toys R Us at 25% markup
“And Toys R Us came back to us, I think two days before Thanksgiving, said we want to buy that order that we want to buy it back, that order that we canceled. And I said, those goods I don't have anymore, but I have goods in LA, and they cost 25% more, and they…”
Larian: MGA owns the largest US toy factory, employing 700 in Ohio
“We, MGA owns the largest toy factory in America, in Hudson, Ohio. We employ 700 workers.”
Larian: MGA Entertainment has ten product failures for every hit
“And for every success that we have had 10 failures.”
Larian spent $125,000 on a commercial just to pitch retail buyers
“I had to spend 125,000 dollars to make that TV commercial.”
Isaac Larian: Bratz brand is undergoing a resurgence and growing again
“It's a good thing they did that because Bratz is under resurgence and growing again. So on my LinkedIn, I thank them. I thank them for this.”
Larian eliminated inventory risk by requiring retail letters of credit
“I learned from my mistake, from my failure with Nintendo game and watch, and this time I did not buy inventory like crazy. I would sell to retailers on what you call FOBs, free and board, so they had to open a letter of credit and buy it. So they owned the ris…”