Changing leadership at Penguin Random House after turbulent times

The largest publisher in the nation has had a difficult few months since a proposal to buy a rival company fell through and some of its senior executives quit.

on Mar 01, 2023

In the wake of a turbulent few months, the country’s largest book publisher, Penguin Random House announced a new leadership team on Tuesday as it sought to right itself.

The declaration also indicates that Nihar Malaviya, the chief executive, intends to stay in place for a while even though he currently holds the "interim" designation.

He took over Penguin Random House during a precarious time. In 2021, the business attempted to acquire Simon & Schuster, a competitor publisher. But, the acquisition was unsuccessfully halted by a federal judge last year, costing the business more than $200 million. A few weeks after the planned acquisition fell through in December, Markus Dohle, the chief executive who managed it, announced his resignation. Madeline McIntosh, the head of the United States, resigned in January.

By acquiring Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House sought to partially recoup the market share it had lost in recent years. Large acquisitions are now reportedly off the agenda, therefore the business will have to expand organically through selling books.

Mr. Malaviya stated that “Books and the people who make them are at the heart of what we do,”. “Our editors’ ability to tenaciously pursue the works they are most passionate about, and the autonomy and independence of our divisions and imprints, is what drives our business and makes certain our success.”

Mr. Malaviya unveiled a brand-new adult publishing division called Crown Publishing Group, which will feature imprints like Crown and Clarkson Potter, in what he described as an effort to promote that independence. David Drake, a former Crown publisher who handled the release of Barack Obama's autobiography "A Promised Land," was elevated to serve as the group's leader.

Gina Centrello, who had served as president of Random House Publishing Group since 2003, will pass the reins to Sanyu Dillon. Ms. Centrello retired in January, not long after her team's publication of Prince Harry's autobiography, "Spare," was well acclaimed. Before this, Ms. Dillon served as the company's chief marketing officer. She will now oversee Random House, The Dial Press, and One World imprints.

Instead of a shake-up of the leadership from the outside, the new roles announced on Tuesday were purely inside movements, promotions of senior executives. However, the business decided against filling one position: Mr. Malaviya did not appoint a new U.S. chief executive to succeed Ms. McIntosh. Instead, Ms. Dillon and Mr. Drake as well as the division heads will answer directly to Mr. Malaviya. ( Penguin Random House is owned by German media group Bertelsmann; the United States is its biggest book market.)

Jaci Updike, who was most recently the president of sales, was given a promotion and will now also be in charge of marketing. Having been elevated to the position of president of publishing operations, Jeff Abraham will assume some of Mr. Malaviya's previous responsibilities.

Instead of the editorial side of the corporation, Mr. Malaviya is from the business side. He completed studies in finance and computer science before working for Penguin Random House in areas including supply chain, data, and technology, where the publisher is regarded as a market leader. In 2014, he was appointed COO of Penguin Random House US, then in January, he was named interim CEO.