Dohle steps down as PRH c.e.o. and resigns seat on Bertelsmann executive board

Markus Dohle is stepping down as c.e.o. of Penguin Random House (PRH) at the end of 2022 and resigning his seat on the Bertelsmann executive board.

Bertelsmann said this was “at his own request and on the best of mutual terms”. The decision comes just weeks after PRH’s agreement to purchase Simon & Schuster (S&S) fell through, in the wake of the US government blocking the merger, leaving PRH liable for a $200m termination fee to S&S owner Paramount.

Dohle’s interim successor will be Nihar Malaviya, currently president and chief operating officer of Penguin Random House US. Malaviya will report to Bertelsmann c.e.o. Thomas Rabe and will be appointed to Bertelsmann’s Group Management Committee (GMC).  

Christoph Mohn, chairman of the Bertelsmann supervisory board, said: “We regret Markus Dohle’s decision to leave Bertelsmann and Penguin Random House. He has sustainably focused Penguin Random House on growth and profitability. Under his leadership, our book division more than doubled its revenues and quintupled its profit. The fact that our global book publishing group is in such a strong position today is largely thanks to Markus Dohle. Bertelsmann is very grateful to him for this, as well as for his work on the group’s executive board. The same applies to Markus Dohle’s many other achievements at Arvato and in the Mohn Media Group during his nearly 30-year Bertelsmann career. Personally, and on behalf of the supervisory board and the company, I wish Markus Dohle all the very best for his professional and personal future.” 

Dohle said: “Following the antitrust decision in the US 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.”  

Rabe added: “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.” 

He added: “Nihar Malaviya is 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 US as well as the implementation of a global tech and 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 GMC.” 

Dohle was appointed as PRH’s first c.e.o. when the publishing group was founded on 1st July 2013. He had already taken over as c.e.o. of Random House in 2008 and joined the Bertelsmann executive board, where he has been a member ever since. He is also a member of the boards of directors of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), 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 (CFR). 

Prior to his appointment as interim c.e.o. of PRH, Malaviya served as president and chief operating officer of PRH US since 2019, and since 2014 had responsibility for all publishing operations in the US from supply chain to technology and data and client services. He is a member of the Penguin Random House global executive committee and leads the creation of new competitive advantages that position the global company for future growth.