Bertelsmann Names New CEO
by Staff
Last Friday, Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate that owns Random House, announced that Hartmut Ostrowski will be its new chief executive officer starting in 2008. Ostrowski has been a member of Bertelsmann’s executive board for the past six years. He will succeed the current CEO, Gunter Thielen, who will become chairman of the company’s supervisory board.
Judith Regan Settles Suit Against News Corporation
by Staff
Last Friday, publisher Judith Regan settled her $100 million dollar defamation suit filed last November against her former employer News Corporation, parent company of HarperCollins. The terms of the settlement remain confidential, but both parties released a joint statement claiming that the resolution was equitable and that neither party admitted liability.
Random House CEO Reported to Be Stepping Down
by Staff
Peter Olson, the chief executive of Random House, is said to be stepping down from his post in the next few weeks. The New York Times reported yesterday that the fifty-year-old, who has been running Random House since 1998, has recently come under pressure as the publisher's worldwide revenue fell 5.6 percent last year.
Home » Magazine » Daily News » HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman Resigns
HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman Resigns
Less than a month after it was reported that Random House CEO Peter Olson would be stepping down from his post, Jane Friedman announced Wednesday that she had resigned as president and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, a position she held for ten years. Soon thereafter, HarperCollins announced that Brian Murray, the company's president since July 2007, will succeed Friedman. The timing of the announcement has led to speculation that Friedman's intentions had been known to higher-ups for some time, though the news reportedly came as a shock to many of her colleagues.
"My ten years at HarperCollins have been far and away the most rewarding of my career and so it was not easy to make the decision to step down," Friedman said in a press release.
Friedman reported to Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corps, which owns HarperCollins. "Jane has been a terrific leader who succeeded in attracting some of the world's most brilliant authors while, at the same time, delivering record-breaking profits," Murdoch said.
Prior to joining HarperCollins, Friedman had been the executive vice president of Random House, Inc., the executive vice president of Knopf, the publisher of Vintage Books, and the founder and president of Random House Audio Publishing.
Under her leadership, HarperCollins achieved record revenues, though the company did report a decline in operating income last year.
Reader Comments
Add Comment | View All Comments (0)