CEO Talk 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair with Richard Sarnoff, KKR Private Equity, Jonathan Karp, Simon and Schuster, and Ruediger Wischenbart, moderator.
October 30, 2024 In Digital, global 50 ranking, global ranking, Global50 Ranking, publishing

CEO Talk video is out

Richard Sarnoff of KKR Private Equity and Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster discussing strategic perspectives for the iconic New York publisher

We had a full house on the International Stage at the Frankfurt Book Fair as the two top executives shared thoughts and strategies that went far beyond the future of one of the world’s leading publishing houses.

Sarnoff emphasised how important it is for the publisher to receive major financial investment following the private investors’ takeover, in order to exploit not only new bestsellers but also a backlist stretching back a century.

And yet, Karp added, it will still be an operation that carefully develops one author and one title at a time, not just for the American audience, but for readers around the world.

So expect new investments in authors and titles, new acquisitions of other international book companies and the exploration of publishing models that go far beyond traditional approaches.

Credits:

Video by Digital Publishing Report

Photo by Carlo Carrenho

October 1, 2024 In book markets, Digital, Global50 Ranking

Global Ranking 2024 is out

What Drives and Shapes the Global Book Business in 2024?

Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2024

The Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2024 provides a deep dive into today’s international book industry, using many of the world’s leading publishers as examples. The companies listed generate over 60 billion euros in revenue – more than half of the global publishing market value.

Since its first edition in 2007, the Global 50 Publishing Ranking has provided a comprehensive and in-depth annual overview of the global book business, with a ranking of the industry leaders, analysis of key trends and strategic developments, and detailed company profiles, rich with key data on financials, mergers and acquisitions, structural business developments such as changes in top management, corporate restructuring, and digital and AI-related innovations.

The report reflects surprising continuities and profound shifts in an industry that is experiencing highly dynamic consolidation as well as transformative forces that are radically reshaping business and distribution models for consumer books, educational materials, and scholarly and professional information services.

The Global 50 Publishing Ranking is researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting and published by leading international book industry publications, including Publishers Weekly (USA), The Bookseller (UK), Livres Hebdo (France), dpr Digital Publishing Report (Germany) and Bookdao (China). 

The Ranking is supported by Bookwire.

Today, book publishing has become a true part of the global content business. Yet books have retained a unique quality because publishing has created the most diverse manifestations of what can be neatly summed up by those 4 letters – B O O K:

Books can be printed on paper, listened to on a smartphone, packaged as an educational course, subscribed to as a globally branded academic journal, or snacked on as a serialized animated story. Books are embraced by audiences in multiple formats, physical or digital, picked up in a bookstore or on an online platform, presented by a small but highly creative independent press or by a global publishing conglomerate.

The Publishing Ranking 2024 documents and analyses this industry in a comprehensive global perspective.  

September 4, 2024 In book markets, Digital, Global50 Ranking, Publishing Beyond Publishers

Global 50 CEO Talk 2024 at Frankfurt

Simon & Schuster's Global Expansion and Digital Transformation Spotlighted at Global 50 CEO Talk 2024

Portraits of Richard Sarnoff (KKR Private Equity) and Jonathan Karp (Simon and Schuster)

Prominent Guest Speakers, Jonathan Karp, CEO of Simon & Schuster and Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of Media for KKR's Private Equity platform in the Americas to discuss Simon & Schuster’s Strategic Vision and Growth Opportunities at the Frankfurt Book Fair’s Premier Industry Event

The Global 50 CEO Talk 2024, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair, will take place on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, from 14.00 to 15.00 at the International Stage (between halls 4.1 and 5.1). The session will explore the strategic vision of Simon & Schuster, the iconic global publishing company celebrating its 100th anniversary. Jonathan Karp will highlight Simon & Schuster’s evolving role as a global publishing powerhouse, expanding its reach internationally while embracing digital transformation and innovation in publishing.

Simon & Schuster, acquired by KKR in 2023, continues to grow its global footprint, with recent acquisitions of leading Dutch publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) and Australian publisher Affirm Press, marking its international ambitions. As the company continues to diversify across print and digital channels, Karp will explore the opportunities and challenges of scaling internationally and how Simon & Schuster is positioning itself for sustained growth.

Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of Simon & Schuster and long-time KKR investor and former senior publishing industry executive, will provide additional context on Simon & Schuster’s successful transition under new ownership and how the company is poised to lead in both established markets and new growth areas within the evolving publishing landscape.

Jonathan Karp and Richard Sarnoff will be interviewed live on stage by the editors of by Bookdao (PR China), The Bookseller (UK), dpr – Digital Publishing Report (Germany), Livres Hebdo (France) and Publishers Weekly (US) in a conversation moderated by Rüdiger Wischenbart.

The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking, which has mapped the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007. The world’s 50 largest publishing companies included in the latest ranking report generated publishing revenues of over 60 bnEUR (65 bnUSD) in 2023. The ranking has been researched and updated annually since 2007 by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting.

The Global 50 Ranking and CEO Talk are supported by Bookwire (www.bookwire.de).

The full Global 50 report, with the big list, an analysis and data-rich company profiles will be available as a digital publication of around 250 pages from late September 2024 at www.wischenbart.com/ranking.

About Jonathan Karp:

Jonathan Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, leads the company’s numerous publishing groups as well as its international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Karp first joined Simon & Schuster in June 2010 as publisher of the company’s flagship imprint, and was named President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing in 2018. Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Karp was Publisher and Editor in Chief of Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005, following his tenure as Editor in Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career. Karp serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Publishers and the Advisory Board of NYU’s Center for Publishing and Applied Literary Arts.

About Richard Sarnoff

Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Simon & Schuster Board of Directors, brings a wealth of experience in publishing, media, and education. His illustrious career includes serving as a senior executive and Supervisory Board member at Bertelsmann, where he held leadership roles both at Random House and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. In addition, Sarnoff served as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers during a key time in the evolution of the publishing industry as it adapted to the growth of eBooks and digital audiobooks. He currently serves as Chairman of Media within KKR’s Americas Private Equity business and in addition to the Simon & Schuster Board currently serves on the Boards of OverDrive, Teaching Strategies, Chegg, AST SpaceMobile, Lightcast, and numerous not-for-profit organizations.

September 3, 2024 In book markets, Global50 Ranking, Publishing Beyond Publishers

Our projects in fall 2024

What is driving the global Book Business in these turbulent times? We help you to find out!

Cover of the Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2024

3 big research questions are framing our approaches in this year’s Global Ranking and 2 related events:

  • What is driving change in the global book business?
  • Why are there so many new faces in publishing leadership positions around the world?
  • How big and how impactful are all these new platforms, startups, and channels from a consumer perspective?

With our reports and events this fall, we want to provide insights and solid information to back up your decision making in these turbulent times.

We plan to

To never miss an update on our releases, subscribe to our newsletter!

Check out as well “All About Digital Distribution“, the Digital Summit 2024 on September 19, organized by our longtime partner Bookwire.

September 11, 2023 In book markets, english, Global50 Ranking

Global50 CEO Talk 2023

“Good Stories Never End.”

Hou Xiaonan, CEO of Tencent Corporation’s Yuewen platform, is the sole guest speaker at the Global 50 CEO Talk 2023.

Illustration of Yuewen Website

The Global 50 CEO Talk 2023, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 14.00 to 15.00 in the Frankfurt Pavilion, will explore how Yuewen is expanding literary story telling into a dynamic ecosystem which includes reading, comics and animation, film and television, games and much more.

Yuewen is the online platform for writing and reading in China’s Tencent corporation, a multinational technology and entertainment group headquartered in Shenzhen. It currently serves over 10 millions writers and over 200 million monthly active users, hosting over 10 millions literary works, and reporting annual revenues of  7.63 billion Chinese Yuan (958 million Euros or 1.05 billion US Dollars).

Founded two decades ago under the iconic brand name of Qidian, it preceded platforms such as Wattpad or Kindle Direct Publishing, pioneering a digital universe for story telling in all its facets.

About Hou Xiaonan:

Mr. Hou Xiaonan joined Yuewen in April 2020 and currently serves as its Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Director, responsible for the strategic planning and business operation. Mr. Hou also serves as the Vice President of the Platform and Content Group of Tencent and the Head of Tencent Animation and Comics. Mr. Hou joined Tencent in 2003 and has held various management positions for Tencent businesses including Mobile QQ, Qzone, Tencent Open Platform, YingYongBao, Qingteng and Penguin Media Content Platform, acting as a core figure in Tencent’s open ecosystem strategy. He has extensive and in-depth management experience in product operation, business model innovation, and ecosystem cooperation. 

 

Hou Xiaonan, CEO of Yuewen

The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking of the publishing industry, mapping the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007.

This ranking is listing the world’s 50 largest publishing companies, who in 2022 generated publishing revenues of 62.6 bnEUR (70.9 bnUSD).

The Global 50 Publishing Ranking is researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting, and published by Bookdao (PR China), The Bookseller (UK), buchreport (Germany), Livres Hebdo (France) and Publishers Weekly (US).

The Global 50 Ranking and CEO Talk are supported by Bookwire (www.bookwire.de )

The full Global 50 report, with the big list, an analysis and data rich company profiles will be available as a digital publication of around 250 pages from mid October 2023 at www.wischenbart.com/ranking , and at websites of Bookwire, Bookdao, Livres Hebdo and Publishers Weekly.

October 4, 2022 In book markets, english, Global50 Ranking

CEOTalk2022-EN

Global 50 CEO Talk 2022 "Beyond Publishers": Ashleigh Gardner and Michael Tamblyn on "New facets of the global book business today."

The Global 50 CEO Talk 2022, held in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair Studio on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, from 14.00 to 15.00, will explore the book business beyond traditional publishers.

In recent years, the novel ways of how authors exploit their intellectual property (or IP) have opened wide and highly productive fields of creation, radically expanding what books, publishing and reading encompasses today:

  • Authors are building critical communities of readers online;
  • Well established bestselling authors are going ‘direct’ by publishing their books themselves;
  • Cross-media exploitation intertwining books, movies and games have expanded;
  • Industry sized cooperations between digital platforms and retailers have become well established practices;
  • With the success of graphic novels and manga, traditional boundaries between gernes of narrative fiction have blurred;
  • New business models have surged, including freemium and subscription, curated access to collections and both broad as well as highly specialized niche collections of titles.

This year’s CEO Talk will shed light on the game changing dynamics resulting from these non-traditional publishing models and explore the opportunities with thought leaders from two of the world’s largest platforms in this regard:

  • Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON, Canada/Korea), and
  • Michael Tamblyn (Kobo Rakuten, Canada).

The Global 50 CEO Talk is prepared in conjunction with the Global 50 Publishing Ranking of the publishing industry, mapping the 50 largest publishing corporations each year since 2007

This ranking is listing the world’s 50 largest publishing companies, who in 2021 generated publishing revenues of 58.8 bnEUR in 2021 (66.7 bnUSD).

The Global 50 Publishing Ranking is researched by Ruediger Wischenbart Content and Consulting, and published by Bookdao (PR China), The Bookseller (UK), buchreport (Germany), Livres Hebdo (France) and Publishers Weekly (US).

The Global 50 Ranking and CEO Talk are supported by Bookwire (www.bookwire.de )

Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON Studios)

About Ashleigh Gardner (Wattpad WEBTOON Studios):

As Senior Vice President, Managing Director Global Publishing, Ashleigh Gardner works with writers and publishers around the world to turn stories and digital comics from Wattpad and WEBTOON into books and graphic novels. Under Ashleigh’s leadership, the Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group is reshaping the publishing industry by leveraging data and insights from the one billion uploads that have been shared on Wattpad to find future best-sellers. In addition to publishing stories under the Wattpad Books and W imprints, Ashleigh sells translation rights, creating global imprints in partnership with some of the leading publishers around the world. 

 

Michael Tamblyn (Rakuten Kobo CEO)

Michael Tamblyn, President and Chief Executive Officer at Rakuten Kobo, drives growth, profitability and international expansion in a fiercely competitive market. He combines a passion for reading with a deep focus on hardware and software experiences. In addition to leading Rakuten Kobo, the global digital bookseller, he advises start-ups focused on aging and technology as Chief Entrepreneur of Age-Well NCE, is on the board of directors of the Law Commission of Ontario, Ontario’s law reform body, as well as The Power Plant, Toronto’s foremost contemporary art gallery. Michael has been a part of Rakuten Kobo’s executive team since its inception in 2009, and previously held the role of Chief Content Officer. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.

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