American Girl is owned by Mattel (the United States, NASDAQ: MAT), which acquired the brand on 1 July 1998 for $700 million.[1][2] American Girl was founded in 1986 in the United States and was independent until 1998.
American Girl sells dolls with accompanying historical fiction, each character set in a particular period of American history, and operates flagship shops with cafés and hair salons for the dolls. Mattel acquired the company in 1998. The books address subjects such as slavery, the Depression and internment, which is unusual for a toy line aimed at young children.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Mattel ownership tree →
Mattel acquired Pleasant Company, maker of American Girl dolls, for about $700 million. Each doll comes with historical fiction set in a particular period, and the books address subjects including slavery and internment, which is unusual for a toy line.
No tagged news items yet. Deals, regulatory actions and recalls are added from SEC filings, regulators and trade press; only titles and links are stored.
Headlines link to the original publisher. Brandtree does not reproduce article text.
The parent company of American Girl is Mattel, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Yes. American Girl originated in the United States in 1986 and its owner, Mattel, is also headquartered in the United States.
Mattel completed its acquisition of American Girl on 1 July 1998, after announcing the deal on 16 June 1998. The deal was valued at $700 million (enterprise value).
American Girl was an independent company from its founding in 1986 until Mattel acquired it in 1998.
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, American Girl is still owned by Mattel. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.