New c.e.o. for Audible

Audible founder Don Katz will step down as c.e.o. in the new year, with Bob Carrigan set to take on the role. 

The former IDG and Dun & Bradstreet executive will join the company on 2nd January and assume day-to-day operations for Audible's global operations, reporting to Katz. 

Katz, who founded Audible in 1995 before selling it to Amazon in 2008, will become executive chairman. 

He said: "Bob Carrigan is among the most accomplished, creative, intellectually adept and inspirational c.e.o.s I have watched succeed over my 20 years of studying and chronicling businesses, and my 24 years leading Audible. His transformational stewardship as c.e.o. of the pioneering global information and subscription services juggernaut IDG, and his visionary leadership as c.e.o. of the venerable international data and analytics institution that is Dun & Bradstreet, testify to his rare ability to field big ideas and turn them into customer-centric action. Both companies became far more connected to their customers, to their founding entrepreneurial roots, and both became more meaningful places to work."

As executive chairman, Katz will also focus on Audible’s global content strategy and the company’s extensive social and public policy objectives in Newark, New Jersey and other locations. 

Carrigan said: "Audible’s evolution from start-up to global powerhouse is a remarkable business and cultural phenomenon. I could not be more honoured and excited to join Don and the talented people who have worked so hard to serve millions of customers and so many of our most gifted professional creators. I’m looking forward to being part of Audible’s next chapter as it soars into the future."