Markus Dohle

Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle is stepping down at the end of the year, "at his own request and on the best of mutual terms," parent company Bertelsmann announced this morning. He is also resigning from Bertelsmann's executive board. His interim successor is Nihar Malaviya, currently president & chief operating officer of Penguin Random House U.S. Malaviya will report to Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe and will be appointed to Bertelsmann's Group Management Committee. The moves come just over a month after a federal judge ruled for the Justice Department in its efforts to block PRH's purchase of Simon & Schuster.

Dohle, who is 54, has worked for nearly 30 years at Bertelsmann, first in Germany, then, beginning in 2008, as CEO of Random House. In 2013, he became CEO of Penguin Random House, following the merger of Random House and Penguin. He is also executive v-p of the PEN America board of trustees, on the boards of the Association of American Publishers, the National Book Foundation and the Bertelsmann Foundation North America, and on the international advisory boards of the Atlantic Council, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Jerusalem Book Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations.

In a statement, Dohle said, "Following the antitrust decision in the U.S. against the merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, I have decided, after nearly 15 years on the Executive Board of Bertelsmann and at the helm of our global publishing business, to hand over the next chapter of Penguin Random House to new leadership. I am very grateful to the Supervisory Board, and especially to its chairman Christoph Mohn, as well as to my colleagues on the Executive Board for their long-standing trust and support of my decision. I would also like to thank all my colleagues at Bertelsmann, and especially at Penguin Random House, with whom I have had the privilege of working closely and trustfully over the past nearly 30 years. I have led our global book business with great enthusiasm and passion and I am proud of what we have achieved together. Penguin Random House has a great future ahead, and I very much look forward to continuing to serve Bertelsmann in an advisory capacity. Today, I look back with gratitude, and forward with great confidence and joy: for Bertelsmann, for Penguin Random House, and also for me personally."

Bertelsmann head Thomas Rabe said: "Together with Markus Dohle, we on the Executive Board have advanced Bertelsmann's development in recent years--especially with the successful combination of Penguin and Random House. Markus Dohle gradually expanded Penguin Random House and strengthened the book publishing group's global presence together with his international management team. He has signed and retained numerous authors for the publishing company. I would like to thank him for our successful collaboration, which I have always greatly appreciated, and I am pleased that Markus Dohle will remain associated with us in an advisory capacity."

Nihar Malaviya

Nihar Malaviya has served as president & chief operating officer of Penguin Random House U.S. since 2019, and since 2014 had responsibility for all publishing operations in the U.S. from supply chain to technology & data and client services. He began his career at Bertelsmann in 2001 as a participant in the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program, and in 2003, he moved to Random House. He is also a member of the board of Yale University Press.

Rabe called Malaviya "an outstanding leader and an entrepreneurial publishing professional who knows Penguin Random House inside out. As the person responsible for all operational publishing processes in the U.S. as well as the implementation of a global tech & data agenda, he has played a major role in the company's success and created sustainable competitive advantages for Penguin Random House globally. With his deep understanding of the global media landscape and publishing industry, he will continue to develop the company and invest in its expansion, both organically and through acquisitions. I look forward to working even more closely with him at Penguin Random House and on the Group Management Committee."