2003–present: Going public and acquisition by VTech
LeapFrog co-founder Michael Wood became the company's chief executive officer in early 2002.[9] In July, LeapFrog went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LF.[12] Knowledge Universe retained majority control of the company following the initial public offering.[12] Sega Toys and Benesse also began producing LeapFrog toys localized for the Japanese market in 2002.[13] The Leapster was released in October 2003. LeapFrog products were sold in more than 25 countries by that year.[2] Tom Kalinske was appointed LeapFrog chief executive officer following Michael Wood's retirement in February 2004.[9] Kalinske had previously served as LeapFrog's chief executive officer from the company's acquisition by Knowledge Universe in 1997 until early 2002.[9] Wood was retained as the company's chief creative officer.[2] Jeffrey G. Katz replaced Kalinske as LeapFrog chief executive officer in 2006.[2] Katz was previously the founding chairman and chief executive officer of Orbitz and had served on the LeapFrog board for a year prior to becoming the chief executive officer of LeapFrog.[14] Kalinske remained vice chairman of LeapFrog.[14]
LeapFrog discontinued the LeapPad and released its Tag Reading System in June 2008.[15] Tag became LeapFrog's flagship product and was a successor to the 10-year-old LeapPad.[16] The company released its Leapster2 portable learning system and its Didj educational handheld game console in August 2008.[16]
William "Bill" Chiasson replaced Jeffrey Katz as LeapFrog president and chief executive officer in March 2010.[17] Chiasson had most recently served as LeapFrog chief financial officer.[17] Katz was appointed to the newly created position of executive chairman of the board.[17] LeapFrog also released the Leapster Explorer educational handheld game console in 2010.[18] The Leapster Explorer was the successor to the Leapster2 and was targeted toward older children.[18] The console supports online gameplay as well as learning apps, e-books, and videos.[18] John Barbour was named the chief executive officer of LeapFrog in March 2011.[19] Barbour previously served as an executive for
LeapFrog released the LeapPad Explorer educational tablet computer in 2011.[20] The LeapPad Explorer was designed for children aged four to nine and contained a five-inch touchscreen, camera, microphone, and both downloadable apps and cartridge-based games.[21] In 2012, LeapFrog released its updated LeapPad2 and LeapsterGS.[22][23] The LeapPad Ultra tablet computer and LeapReader were launched in 2013.[24] The LeapReader is an electronic reading and writing system that succeeded the Tag Reading System which only taught reading skills.[24]
The company released LeapBand, its first wearable activity tracker for children, in 2014.[25] LeapFrog also released its LeapPad3 and LeapPad Ultra XDi tablet devices in 2014.[26] In July 2014, the company announced the release of LeapTV.[27] They also got net loss for $124million and had net sales of $145million.[28] In August 2015, the company announced LeapFrog Epic,[29] its Android-based tablet for children, which was released in September 2015.[30]
On April 4, 2016, VTech completed its $72million acquisition of LeapFrog.[31][32]
On April 10, 2025, Wood died at the age of 72 by physician-assisted suicide in Switzerland after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.[33][34][35]
