The interim chief executive of Penguin Random House, the country’s largest book publisher, announced a new leadership team for the company on Tuesday, as the company tries to right itself after a turbulent few months.
The announcement also signals that while he retains the “interim” title for now, the chief executive, Nihar Malaviya, plans to be in place for some time.
He has taken charge of Penguin Random House at a delicate moment. The company tried in 2021 to buy Simon & Schuster, a rival publisher, but a federal judge blocked the deal last year, a debacle that cost the company more than $200 million. Markus Dohle, the chief executive who oversaw the attempted acquisition, stepped down in December, a few weeks after the deal fell apart. In January, the U.S. chief executive, Madeline McIntosh, resigned.
Penguin Random House had hoped that by acquiring Simon & Schuster, it could regain some of the market share it lost in recent years. Now, with large acquisitions seemingly off the table, the company will have to grow organically, by selling books.
“Books and the people who make them are at the heart of what we do,” Mr. Malaviya said. “Our editors’ ability to aggressively pursue the works they are most passionate about, and the autonomy and independence of our divisions and imprints, is what drives our business and ensures our success.”
In what he described as an effort to foster that independence, Mr. Malaviya announced a new adult publishing division, Crown Publishing Group, which will include imprints like Crown and Clarkson Potter. David Drake, the former publisher of Crown, who oversaw the publication of Barack Obama’s memoir “A Promised Land,” was promoted to lead the group.
Sanyu Dillon will become president of Random House Publishing Group, which Gina Centrello had led since 2003. Ms. Centrello retired in January, shortly after the hugely successful release of Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” which her team published. Ms. Dillon was most recently the company’s chief marketing officer, and she will now lead imprints including Random House, The Dial Press and One World.
The new positions announced on Tuesday were all internal moves, promotions of longtime executives rather than a shake-up of the leadership from outside. The company opted not to fill one role, however: Mr. Malaviya did not name a new U.S. chief executive to replace Ms. McIntosh. Instead, the division heads, like Ms. Dillon and Mr. Drake, will report directly to Mr. Malaviya. (Penguin Random House is owned by Bertelsmann, a German media conglomerate; the United States is its largest book market.)
On the business side, Jaci Updike, most recently the president of sales, was promoted and will now be in charge of marketing as well. Jeff Abraham was promoted to president of publishing operations and will take over some of the duties Mr. Malaviya has left behind.
Mr. Malaviya comes from the business side of the company rather than editorial. He studied finance and computer science, then later ran areas like supply chain, data and technology for Penguin Random House — areas in which the company is considered to be an industry leader. He became the chief operating officer of Penguin Random House U.S. in 2014 and interim chief executive in January.
