Random House

Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world.[1][2][3] It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

Random House
Parent companyPenguin Random House
Founded1927 (1927)
FoundersBennett Cerf, Donald Klopfer
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationRandom House Tower, New York City, United States
DistributionWorldwide
Key peopleMarkus Dohle (CEO, Penguin Random House)
Núria Cabutí (CEO, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial)
Gina Centrello (President & Publisher, The Random House Publishing Group)
Anthony Chirico (President, Knopf Publishing Group)
Barbara Marcus (President & Publisher, Random House Children's Books)
Brad Martin (President & CEO, Random House of Canada)
Maya Mavjee (President & Publisher, Crown Publishing Group)
Nihar Malaviya (chief operating officer, Random House, Inc.)
Sonny Mehta (Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)
Gail Rebuck (Chairman & CEO, The Random House Group UK)
Dr. Frank Sambeth (Chairman & CEO, Verlagsgruppe Random House)
Frank Steinert (Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Random House Worldwide)
Publication typesBooks
Revenue€2.142 billion (2012)
Owner(s)Bertelsmann
No. of employees5,712 (as of December 31, 2012)
Official websiterandomhousebooks.com

History

Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House.[4] In 1934 they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce's novel Ulysses in the Anglophone world.[5]

Ulysses really launched Random House. ... Random House grew into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it absorbed the firm of Smith and Haas—Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Bennett and Donald in 1956—which added authors including Faulkner, Isak Dinesen, André Malraux, Robert Graves, and Jean de Brunhoff, who wrote the Babar children's books. Random House also hired legendary editors Harry Maule, Robert Linscott, and Saxe Commins, and they brought authors such as Sinclair Lewis and Robert Penn Warren with them.[6]

Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the American College Dictionary, which was followed in 1966 by its first unabridged dictionary.

In October 1959, Random House went public at $11.25 a share. This move drew other publishing companies, such as Simon & Schuster, to later go public.[7]

American publishers Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Pantheon Books were acquired by Random House in 1960 and 1961, respectively; works continue to be published under these imprints with editorial independence, such as Everyman's Library, a series of classical literature reprints.

In 1965, RCA bought Random House as part of a diversification strategy. Random House acquired the paperback book publisher Ballantine Books in 1973.[8] RCA sold Random House to Advance Publications in 1980.[7][9]

In 1988, Random House acquired Crown Books.[10] Also in 1988, McGraw-Hill acquired the Schools and Colleges division of Random House Inc.[11]

Acquisition by Bertelsmann

In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and merged it with Bantam Doubleday Dell and it soon went global.[12] In 1999, Random House acquired the children's audiobook publisher Listening Library.[13]

Phyllis E. Grann joined Random House as vice-chairman in 2001.[14] Grann was the CEO for Putnam and had grown that house from $10 million in revenue in 1976 to over $200 million by 1993 and without increasing their title output.[14] A publishing insider commented that then CEO Peter Olson was "I think maybe instead of buying a company he bought a person."[14]

Coinciding with the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the publishing industry was hit hard with weak retail sales. In May 2008, Random House CEO Peter Olson stepped down and Bertelsmann replaced Olson with Marcus Dohle.[15] By October of that year, Doubleday, a division of Random House announced that they would lay off 16 people or about 10% of its workforce.[16] In early December, what became known as Black Wednesday in publishing circles, many publishers including Random House took steps by restructuring their divisions and laying off employees.[17] The reorganization consolidated and created three divisions—Random House Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Crown Publishing Group.[18][19]Susan Kamil, was named editorial director for Dial Press and editor-in-chief of Random House imprints reporting to Gina Centrello, the president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group.[17] There were layoffs in the Doubleday imprint (now part of Knopf Publishing Group) and Dial Press, Bantam Dell, and Spiegel & Grau were moved from Doubleday over to the Random House imprints.

Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio; one release in 2011 was One Day. The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. It is one of the largest English-language publishers, along with the group formerly known as the "Big 6", now known as the "Big Five".[20]

Merger with Penguin

In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group. The merger was completed on July 1, 2013 and the new company is Penguin Random House.[21] Bertelsmann owns 75% of the joint venture while Pearson owns 25%.[22] At the time of the acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $3.9 billion in annual revenues.[22] The move to consolidate was to provide leverage against Amazon.com and battle the shrinking state of bookstores.[22]

In October 2018, Penguin Random House merged two of its most known publishing lines, Random House and the Crown Publishing Group. According to Madeline McIntosh, chief executive of Penguin Random House U.S., the two lines "will retain their distinct editorial identities."[23] McIntosh explained some of the motivation behind the merger in a memo to employees, writing, "Book discovery and buying patterns continue to shift, resulting in growth opportunities in the nonfiction categories in which Crown in particular already has a strong foothold: food, lifestyle, health, wellness, business, and Christian."[23] "We must invest even more aggressively in title-level and scaled marketing programs, capabilities and partnerships," she added.[23] Detailing additional growth strategies, McIntosh explained of the merger, "We will need to do two things simultaneously. First, we must expand and strengthen the expert publishing teams who are specialized in and dedicated to each category. Second, we must invest even more aggressively in title-level and scaled marketing programs, capabilities, and partnerships. This will ensure that we not only maximize the sales for each individual book but also keep pace with consumer trends."[24]

Organization

Headquarters

The publisher's main office in the United States is located at 1745 Broadway in Manhattan, in the 684-foot Penguin Random House Tower, completed in 2009 and spanning the entire west side of the block between West 55th Street and West 56th. Its lobby showcases floor-to-ceiling glassed-in bookcases filled with books published by the company's many imprints. Earlier addresses were 457 Madison Avenue, New York 22, NY; 20 East 57th Street, New York 22, NY; and 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022.

International branches

Random House, Inc. maintains several independently managed subsidiaries around the world.

The Random House Group is one of the largest general book publishing companies in the UK and is based in London. The Group comprises five publishing companies: Cornerstone Publishing, Vintage Publishing, Ebury Publishing, Random House Children's Publishers UK and Transworld Publishers, with more than 40 diverse imprints. Its distribution business services its own imprints as well as 60 other UK publishers. The Random House archive and library is located in Rushden in Northamptonshire.

The Random House Group also operates branches in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (as a joint venture under the name Random House Struik), and India as part of its overseas structure. In Australia offices are in Sydney and Melbourne.[25] In New Zealand it is based in Glenfield, Auckland, while Random House's Indian headquarters are located in New Delhi.

Verlagsgruppe Random House was established after Bertelsmann's 1998 acquisition of Random House, grouping its German imprints (until then operating as Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann) under the new name; before April 2020, it has explicitly no legal part of the worldwide Penguin Random House company and a hundred percent subsidiary of Bertelsmann instead but de facto is led by the same management. It is the second largest book publisher in Germany with more than 40 imprints, including historic publishing houses Goldmann and Heyne Verlag, as well as C. Bertelsmann, the publishing house from which today's Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA would eventually evolve. Verlagsgruppe Random House is headquartered in Munich (with additional locations in Gütersloh (where Bertelsmann is headquartered), Cologne, and Aßlar), employs about 850 people, and publishes roughly 2,500 titles per year. Following the formation of Penguin Random House, a Penguin Verlag (with no legal connection to Penguin Books) was founded for the German market in 2015, as part of the Verlagsgruppe Random House. With Bertelsmann acquiring full ownership of Penguin Random House in April 2020, Verlagsgruppe Random House is being reintegrated with the main Penguin Random House company.[26]

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is Random House's Spanish-language division, targeting markets in Spain and Hispanic America. It is headquartered in Barcelona with locations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. From 2001 until November 2012, it was a joint venture with Italian publisher Mondadori (Random House Mondadori). Upon Bertelsmann's acquisition of Mondadori's stake in the JV, the name was kept temporarily four months.[27] Some Spanish-language authors published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial include Roberto Bolaño, Javier Marías, Mario Vargas Llosa and Guillermo Arriaga.

Random House of Canada[28] was established in 1944 as the Canadian distributor of Random House Books. In 1986 the company established its own indigenous Canadian publishing program that has become one of the most successful in Canadian history. Until January 2012, it used to hold a 25% stake in McClelland & Stewart, with the remaining 75% being controlled by the University of Toronto. It is now the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart.

Takeda Random House Japan was founded in May 2003 as a joint venture between Kodansha and Random House.[29] In 2009, Random House discontinued the joint venture. The company filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2012.[29]

In 2006, Random House invested in Random House Korea. In 2010, Random House divested their ownership.

In April 2010, the company announced that Random House Australia managing director, Margie Seale, would take on the responsibilities of exploring and evaluating potential business opportunities in Asia.[30]

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See also
  • Western Publishing
  • List of English language book publishers
  • List of largest UK book publishers
  • Media of New York City

References
  1. "Random House – Bertelsmann AG" (in German). Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  2. "Größter Buchverlag der Welt bekommt neuen Chef" [Largest book publisher in the world gets new boss]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Reuters. May 20, 2008. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  3. "Randomhouse.biz – About Us". Business Solutions. Random House. December 31, 2011. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  4. C250.columbia.edu Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Bennet Alfred Cerf Biography
  5. Birmingham, Kevin (2014). The most dangerous book: the battle for James Joyce's Ulysses. London: Head of Zeus. ISBN 9781784080723.
  6. Bernstein, Robert L. (2016). "Chapter 3". Speaking Freely: My Life in Publishing and Human Rights. New York: The New Press.
  7. Korda, Michael (1999). Another Life : a memoir of other people (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-45659-7.
  8. "Random House in Deal For Ballantine Books". The New York Times. January 9, 1973. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  9. "RCA History". bobsamerica. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  10. Mitgang, Herbert (August 16, 1988). "Random House Buys Crown". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  11. McDowell, Edwin (September 29, 1988). "McGraw-Hill Is Buying 2 Random House Units". The New York Times.
  12. Random House Company History, from Fundinguniverse.com Archived March 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  13. "Random House Acquires Listening Library". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  14. Maneker, Marion (January 1, 2002). "Now for the Grann Finale". New York. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  15. Rich, Motoko (May 21, 2008). "Publishing Outsider Picked to Head Random House". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  16. Rich, Motoko (October 28, 2008). "Doubleday Publishing Lays Off 10% of Its Employees". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  17. Rich, Motoko (December 17, 2008). "New Editor at Random House, Layoffs at Doubleday and Broadway". ArtsBeat. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  18. "Random Puts Its House in Order". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  19. Rich, Motoko. "Major Reorganization at Random House". ArtsBeat. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  20. The Big Six publishers, which have since been reduced to the "Big Five" by the merger on July 1, 2013 of Penguin and Random House, were Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group/Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Books, Random House; and Simon & Schuster.
  21. Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew; Wiesmann, Gerrit (October 26, 2012). "Penguin and Random House in deal talks". Media. Financial Times. Retrieved August 12, 2013.(registration required)
  22. Bosman, Julie (July 1, 2013). "Penguin and Random House Merge, Saying Change Will Come Slowly". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  23. Alexandra Alter (October 18, 2018). "Penguin Random House Merges Two of its Successful Publishing Lines". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2018.(registration required)
  24. John Maher (October 18, 2018). "The Random House and Crown Publishing Groups Merge". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  25. "Contacts". Random House Books Australia. Random House. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  26. "Bertelsmann Completes Full Acquisition of Penguin Random House". Bertelsmann.
  27. "Random House Mondadori is renamed Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial". penguinrandomhouse.com. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  28. Random House of Canada Archived November 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  29. Schreiber, Mark (January 13, 2013). "Magazines struggle to maintain relevance". Japan Times. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  30. "Random House Tries New Approach to Asia". Publishers Weekly. April 27, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
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