His departure from the troubled El Segundo, Calif.-based company leaves a near-total void in senior management, the Journal reported.

In February, Jill Barad resigned as chief executive. Chief Financial Officer Harry Pearce also left in February and was replaced by former controller Kevin Farr.

Late last year, the two founders of the Learning Co., Kevin O'Leary and Michael Perrik, also left Mattel when that software unit reported unexpected losses.

Mattel also lacks a head of international operations, the Journal said.

Mansour will become the latest in a string of executives to leave the troubled toy maker, according to a report on Friday, but shares in the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels were not expected to be hard hit.

According to Friday's Wall Street Journal, Mansour issued a memo to staff that he is leaving his post at the end of the month and will leave the company's board in June. A Mattel spokesman was not available for comment.

Mansour, who was reported as saying in the memo that he is resigning in part to spend more time with his family, has served in various posts in his 21-year history at the company. The newspaper reported that Mansour will act as a consultant to Mattel.

``Given the unsettled conditions, this would just appear to be a continuation of the reshuffling in the executive suite,'' said David Leibowitz, an analyst at Burnham Securities.

The company's shares have traded around $10 since February, well off of their 52-week high of 30-5/16.

``The stock has clearly bungee-jumped,'' Leibowitz said.

The El Seguno, Calif.-based company has posted hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from its Learning Co. unit, which it acquired for $3.5 billion last May.

Leibowitz says that if the report of Mansour's resignation is correct he does not expect it to have a strong impact on Mattel's stock price.

``It appears that investor focus is more on revenue and earnings, particularly earnings, at the company than on the changes that are taking place in management,'' he said.

``Whomever that individual is will be very closely scrutinized by investors,'' Leibowitz said.

For now, board member Ronald Loeb is serving as acting CEO and board member William Rollnick serves as acting chairman.

Shares of Mattel closed at 10-1/2 on Thursday.

[Updated 3/24/2000]