Random House Boss Will Resign
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The chief executive of Random House, Peter Olson, will resign in the next few weeks, the New York Times reported Monday. The departure would leave open the top job at the world’s largest consumer book publisher.
Mr. Olson has led the company since 1998, when German conglomerate Bertelsmann purchased Random House and installed him as its chief executive. Mr. Olson has in recent months lost the confidence of the Bertselsmann CEO, Hartmut Ostrowski, the Times reported, after the publisher reported declining profits and significant losses in American book clubs.
Bertelsmann’s board is scheduled to meet in New York in two weeks, and an announcement is expected to follow shortly thereafter. Mr. Olson’s successor has yet to be named.
