Darren Throop, president and CEO of Hasbro’s Entertainment One division, will step down at the end of 2022.
Throop’s current contract runs through the end of the year and follows Hasbro’s acquisition of eOne in 2019 as part of a $4 billion cash transaction. Hasbro then sought the eOne deal to turn the toymaker into a media competitor as it combined the indie studio’s film and television unit with its own.
The pandemic disrupted this media strategy with a shutdown of Hollywood production and delays in content deliveries as the industry reopened. More recently, Hasbro, under newly installed CEO Chris Cocks, has focused on becoming a digital gaming powerhouse after fending off a proxy battle with activist investor Alta Fox Capital Management.
In addition to eOne’s film and television division, Hasbro also acquired a licensing and digital division around children’s properties such as Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom. Hasbro said it will provide guidance on a leadership transition at eOne by the end of 2022, with Throop remaining in his role until then.
“Darren built a team with deep passion, creativity and talent, and on behalf of all of us at Hasbro, I thank him for his steadfast leadership,” Hasbro’s CEO said in a statement Tuesday.
Hasbro added that eOne has more than 200 projects in development across film, scripted and unscripted television, and there are 35 projects in development for Hasbro brands, including Transformers, Magic and My Little Pony.
Throop began operating a chain of music stores in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He became CEO of ROW Entertainment in 2001, which later morphed into Toronto-based eOne in 2007.
