The Man Who Mends Toy Companies

Ronald J. Jackson isn't what you would call a playful executive. But if you've got a broken toy company, he's the guy to call. Twice now, he has taken an ailing toy division spun off from a big conglomerate and turned it around. And twice, the company has been sold for three times its original value.

In 1987, Jackson unloaded Kenner Parker Toys Inc., the toy and board game unit spun off by General Mills Inc. in 1985. Jackson spent a year restructuring the company before Tonka Corp. bought it in a hostile takeover for $622 million, triple its initial market value and then some. Last month, it was Fisher-Price, which Quaker Oats Co. sold to the public in 1991, after hiring Jackson as CEO. On Aug. 19, Mattel Inc. agreed to buy Fisher-Price for $1.1 billion, triple its market value of two years ago.