Ruth Handler Club children's television show, Mattel invested heavily in television advertising. The TV commercials for the Barbie doll paid off and Barbie rocketed Mattel and the Handlers to fame and fortune. Subsequently, they would add a boyfriend for Barbie named Ken, after the Handlers' son, and many other "friends and family" to Barbie's world. Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970. She had a modified radical mastectomy, which was often used at the time to combat the disease, and because of difficulties in finding a good breast prosthesis, she decided to make her own. Handler went on to found a
Richard B. Handler 2012, Handler and Chairman of the Jefferies Executive Committee Brian Friedman formed the Jefferies Global Senior Advisory Board, which now includes James D. Robinson III, Lord Hollick, Michael Goldstein, Bernard Bourigeaud, Dennis Archer, Sir David Reid, Gilles Pélisson, and G. Richard Wagoner. In August 2012, Handler played a lead role in saving Knight Capital Group after they suffered a $440 million loss due to a 'technology glitch.' Together with Brian Friedman, Handler structured and led the rescue, which included making Jefferies the largest shareholder with an investment of $125 million. In November 2011, ratings company Egan-Jones issued a negative report