[2][3] Eckert started a 23-year career with Kraft Foods in 1977, rising to president and chief executive officer (CEO) in October 1997.
[4] He retired at the end of 2011, and was succeeded by Bryan G. Stockton who had been chief operating officer[6] and chairman until December 2012.
[7] In 2004, under Eckert's leadership, Mattel began a seven-year legal war against tiny, California-based MGA Entertainment.
In a surprise defeat, a jury decided that MGA Entertainment was the rightful owner of the once-billion dollar line of Bratz dolls.
A BMO Capital Markets analyst said the failure to settle will go down as a “tremendously bad decision” by Mattel management.