Markus Dohle CEO, Penguin Random House
Member of the Executive Board, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA

As CEO of Penguin Random House since July 1, 2013, Markus Dohle leads the world's largest trade book publisher, with operations in 20 countries and sales into over 100. He oversees Penguin Random House’s worldwide publishing divisions, whose 250 editorially independent imprints publish 15,000 new adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction titles annually in English, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Each year, Penguin Random House sells more than 700 million print, audio and e-books across the globe.

Under Mr. Dohle, Penguin Random House’s mission is to foster a universal passion for reading by partnering with authors to help create stories and communicate ideas that inform, entertain, and inspire, and to connect them with readers across the globe. Penguin Random House’s worldwide roster of fiction and non-fiction writers includes many of the world’s most widely read and beloved authors, more than 60 Nobel Prize laureates, and over 100 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Mr. Dohle’s entire professional life has been devoted to the support and service of authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers. Before the merger of Penguin and Random House in 2013, Mr. Dohle headed Random House, where he led the company’s transition to digital publishing while maintaining its world market leadership in print books. As a combined company, Penguin Random House now has more than 100,000 new and backlist books available digitally, and over 100,000,000 eBooks were sold worldwide in 2015.

As a member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board, Mr. Dohle and his fellow Board colleagues are responsible for setting the strategic direction for one of the world’s foremost media companies. He began his career with Bertelsmann in 1994, rising quickly to several subsequent leadership positions.

Additionally, Mr. Dohle is Chairman of the Association of American Publishers. He also serves as Executive Vice President of the PEN Board of Trustees, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation and the International Advisory Committee of the Atlantic Council.

 

Julie Burland CEO, Penguin Random House Australia and New Zealand

Julie Burland is the CEO of Penguin Random House Australia and New Zealand. She was appointed to this position in 2015.

Prior to this, Julie was the Director of Business Development and the Children’s Division at Random House Australia, in charge of publishing, sales, marketing and publicity. She transformed the Children’s Division into a highly successful and profitable business, while publishing books to critical acclaim.

Julie also established Random House’s Business Development department in 2007, where her role included sales to non-traditional markets, as well as the development of the export business, a successful custom publishing program and an ebook sales program.

Upon joining Random House Australia in 2000, Julie worked in Sales, eventually leading the team in 2005. During this time, she achieved record sales for, among many, Dan Brown, Christopher Paolini and brands such as MasterChef.

Núria Cabutí CEO, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial

Núria Cabutí was appointed CEO in January 2010 of the Random House and Mondadori Spanish-language trade publishing joint venture –which was renamed Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial in November 2013, following Random House acquiring full ownership in late 2012 and the merger of Penguin and Random House July 1, 2013– after having served as Publisher and Editorial Director of its Children's and Paperback Divisions since 2003.

Núria sets the strategic direction and provides the publishing and organizational leadership for the company's operations in Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay. She has worked for Random House exclusively and continuously upon her receiving her MBA from IESE Business School in 1992, demonstrating a strong aptitude for the editorial, financial, marketing, bookselling, and media relations aspects of the book publishing business.

Under her publishing leadership, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial has strengthened its position as one of the world's leading Spanish-language trade book publishers.

Gina Centrello President and Publisher, Random House U.S.

Gina Centrello is President and Publisher of Random House and a member of Penguin Random House’s U. S. Board and Global Executive Committee.

Ms. Centrello began her career in publishing in 1982 as a copyeditor at Pocket Books, rising to Vice President and Associate Publisher in 1987, Executive Vice President and Publisher in 1993, and President in 1994.

Centrello left Pocket in 1999 to become President and Publisher of Ballantine Books. In 2003, she took over the helm of the newly formed Random House Publishing Group, which united the two divisions formerly known as the Random House Trade Group and the Ballantine Books Group. In 2008, the group added imprints from the Bantam Dell, Spiegel & Grau, and Dial Press divisions, creating a formidable house publishing the best authors in both literary and commercial genres.

A two-time winner of the Bertelsmann Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurial Achievement (2011, 2013), Centrello has a strong reputation for developing an industry-leading team in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Under her leadership, the One World imprint formally relaunched in 2016, highlighting the division’s commitment to centering marginalized and underrepresented voices. As of October 2018, Centrello has added to her leadership portfolio the joining of the Crown Publishing Group to the Random House division—creating a best-in-class book-publishing house with the scale to serve top-notch content to readers of all types.

 

Azia Cheng CEO, Penguin Random House North Asia

Azia Cheng (Yilin Cheng)  was appointed CEO of Penguin Random House North Asia in September 2017. Prior to this, Azia was the Head of Sales at Penguin Random House China, overseeing the sales of new and backlist titles published by Penguin Random House globally.

Azia started working for Penguin China as a Sales Representative in 2008 and was promoted to the Head of Sales in 2010. During this time, she developed special sales and customized publishing programs in the Chinese market, especially in children's books. Azia also established strong branding for Penguin Random House main series and characters such as Peppa Pig, Eric Carle, Peter Rabbit, and Spot. She's been instrumental in growing international export sales in the region.

Tony Chirico President, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group U.S.

Tony Chirico was appointed President of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in February 2005, after having served as Executive Vice President and COO for the group (then known as the Knopf Publishing Group) since 2000. As President, he is involved in virtually all aspects of publishing, including title acquisitions, sales, marketing, operations production, personnel, and finance. In 2012, Tony was instrumental in the Group's Vintage imprint acquisition of the 50 Shades trilogy by E L James.

During his twenty-six-year career at the company, Tony has led the group through various organizational transitions. Among his most notable accomplishments is the successful operational and publishing assimilation of the Doubleday and Anchor divisions with the original Random House, Inc., divisions (Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage) in 2009. Tony received the Bertelsmann Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurial Achievement in 2012.

Tony joined Random House as Business Manager in 1987. He has an MBA in finance and a degree in economics from CUNY.

Kristin Cochrane CEO, Penguin Random House Canada

Kristin Cochrane was appointed CEO of Penguin Random House Canada in May 2018. Previously, Kristin served as President and Publisher of Penguin Random House Canada, President and Publisher of Random House of Canada, Executive Publisher of the McClelland & Stewart/Doubleday Canada Publishing Group, and Publisher of the Doubleday Canada Publishing Group. She first joined the company in 2005 as Doubleday Canada’s Associate Publisher, coming from HarperCollins Canada, where she held various senior roles in sales and marketing.

 

For the last three years, Kristin has appeared as one of Toronto Life magazine’s ‘50 Most Influential People,’ and she was recently featured in Canada 150 Women, a book celebrating women across business and society. Under her leadership as Publisher, the company has been honored with three of the last four Scotiabank Giller Prize wins, the Man Booker Prize, and two of their authors—Alice Munro and Kazuo Ishiguro—have won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

 

Kristin has long served as an Adjunct Professor and an Advisory Board Member at Simon Fraser University’s Publishing Program. She graduated from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario) with a BA in History.

Steve Connolly CEO, Penguin Random House South Africa Steve has over thirty years of publishing experience, beginning with Longman Group in 1986, in international sales. During that time he has managed publishing companies in Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and England. In 2000 he moved from his position as President, Pearson Education Cono Sur (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay) to manage Struik Publishers in Cape Town. Then after four years as MD of New Holland Publishing in London he returned to South Africa in 2012 to manage Random House Struik, then led the merger with Penguin South Africa to create Penguin Random House South Africa, the largest trade publisher in the country. In his years in publishing, Steve has been tasked with business turnarounds and mergers in a number of different countries with very different cultures. Prior to working in publishing Steve was a university lecturer in South Africa, teaching African and Islamic history and has degrees from the University of Sussex and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

Allison Dobson President , Penguin Publishing Group U.S. Allison Dobson was appointed President, Penguin Publishing Group in April 2018. In this capacity, she oversees Penguin’s adult publishing business in the U.S., which includes Avery, Berkley, Dutton, Penguin, Penguin Press, Plume, Portfolio, Putnam, Riverhead, Sentinel, Tarcher Perigee, and Viking. Allison joined the company in 2008, first as a member of the Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program and then in a variety of corporate and divisional roles at Random House and eventually Penguin Random House, including as Vice President, Business Development and Digital Publishing Director at the Random House Publishing Group and most recently as Senior Vice President, Director of Strategy and Finance at Penguin. Prior to her time in publishing, Allison spent several years on Capitol Hill and on political campaigns. She served as Communications Director for U.S. Senators Paul Wellstone and Tom Harkin and as a press secretary for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004. Allison has a BA in Economics and Government from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two children.  

Ian Hudson CEO, DK Worldwide

Ian was appointed DK CEO in July 2016 and is responsible for this multi-award-winning global publisher, creating books in over 60 languages, selling to over 100 countries with offices across the globe.

Ian began his career in publishing at magazine publisher Marshall Cavendish, where he became European Director. Ian joined Random House in 1992, working in a number of commercial, operations and publishing roles before becoming Deputy Group CEO of Random House in 2005.  In this capacity Ian led, amongst other things, the company’s strategic development and digital transition. Ian was part of the team that successfully completed the deal to merge Penguin and Random House in 2013. Post merger, Ian was appointed to two roles, as CEO of Penguin Random House International (English Language) and Deputy CEO of Penguin Random House UK. In these capacities led the operational integration of the two companies outside North America.  In his International role, Ian oversaw the Penguin Random House businesses in Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Singapore and South Africa.

Ian was elected a member of the Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann in 2008, chairs the Bertelsmann Management Representation Committee, and was founding chair of the Bertelsmann UK Operations Group. Ian is a former Council Member and President of the UK Publishers Association, and is currently a Non-Executive Director of Which?, the commercial arm of the UK Consumers Association.

Jim Johnston Chief Financial Officer, Penguin Random House

Jim Johnston was appointed Chief Financial Officer in September 2018.  In this dual global and U.S. role, Jim oversees the management and coordination of all fiscal planning, reporting, and analysis for Penguin Random House U.S. and provides financial leadership and support across all territories.  During his tenure, Jim has managed several initiatives dedicated to the continuous improvement of the systems that safeguard our company assets.

 

Jim joined Random House in 1990 and subsequently became a valuable member of the Knopf Publishing Group, where he served as Director, Business Operations.  In 2003, he was named Director of Worldwide Reporting and Planning.  During the merger of Penguin and Random House, Jim guided the successful integration of the budgeting process and financial consolidation of the newly formed company.

 

Previously, Jim worked at Scholastic for three years.  He holds a Finance degree from Pace University, and lives in Connecticut.

Jen Loja President, Penguin Young Readers U.S.

Jen Loja was appointed President, Penguin Young Readers in December 2015. In this capacity, she oversees all publishing and business for each of Penguin Young Readers’ publishing divisions, which include Dial, Dutton, Grosset & Dunlap, Kathy Dawson Books, Nancy Paulsen Books, Philomel, PSS!, Puffin, Speak, Putnam, Viking, Razorbill, and Frederick Warne. These imprints publish such acclaimed, award-winning authors and illustrators as Jay Asher, Judy Blume, Jan Brett, Eric Carle, Kristin Cashoew, Ally Condie, Roald Dahl, Drew Daywalt, Matt de la Pena, Tomie dePaola, Sarah Dessen, Anna Dewdney, John Flanagan, Gayle Forman, John Green, John Grisham, Oliver Jeffers, Mike Lupica, Richelle Mead, B.J. Novak, Richard Peck, and dozens of other popular authors. Penguin Young Readers is also home to perennial brand franchises such as the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, Peter Rabbit, Spot, the Classic Winnie the Pooh, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Madeline, Mad Libs, the Rangers Apprentice, and Who Was?, among many others.

Jen joined Penguin Young Readers in March 2009 as Vice President, Associate Publisher. Previously, Jen was Associate Publisher at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She began her career in books as a buyer for Joseph-Beth Bookseller before moving into sales at both Candlewick Press and Houghton Mifflin, where she was responsible for the wholesale channel as well as Canadian sales. She joined Harcourt in September of 2004 as VP of Sales, Children’s Books and was named VP of Sales & Marketing, Children’s Books in 2007. At the merger of Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt she became the Associate Publisher of the HMH children’s list.

Barbara Marcus President and Publisher, Random House Children’s Books U.S.

Barbara Marcus is President and Publisher of Random House Children's Books, where she is responsible for overseeing all publishing and business activities. Random House Children's Books publishes many of the world's bestselling and most highly acclaimed authors and illustrators for young people today—including Dr. Seuss, Marc Brown, Roald Dahl, Carl Hiaasen, Lauren Kate, Christopher Paolini, Philip Pullman, Leo Lionni, James Dashner, Brandon Sanderson, Louis Sachar, Richard Scarry, and Markus Zusak—and is home to many of the most recognizable series licenses and characters in the world, such as Babar, Barbie, the Berenstain Bears, Disney, Little Golden Books, Nickelodeon, Pat the Bunny, Sesame Workshop, Junie B. Jones, and the Magic Tree House.

Prior to joining Random House in 2012, Barbara was Adviser to Open Road Integrated Media in the area of children's digital publishing and general strategy. She also served as Strategic Innovations Adviser to Penguin Books USA, focusing on new ventures and publishing opportunities.

Before that, Barbara was President of Scholastic's Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, where, for more than twenty years, she was responsible for all children's consumer book publishing and distribution in the United States, through school-based book clubs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs, school-based book fairs, and the retail channel. During her tenure, she led the expansion of the business from approximately $50 million to over $1 billion in annual revenue. After acquiring J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for publication in the United States in 1998, she also led the publishing effort for six of the seven Harry Potter titles.

Barbara began her career as Sales Associate, Bantam Lecture Bureau, after having graduated from Tufts University with a BA degree in American history.

Madeline McIntosh CEO, Penguin Random House U.S. Madeline McIntosh was appointed CEO of Penguin Random House U.S. in April 2018. Her previous positions in the company include President of the Penguin Publishing Group; President and COO of Penguin Random House U.S.; Publisher, Random House Audio; and Director of Adult Sales, Random House, Inc. Madeline originally joined the Random House predecessor Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1994, as an assistant in the New Media department. In addition to the variety of positions she has held within the company, she served in 2008 and 2009 as the Director of Kindle Content Acquisition for Amazon, based in Luxembourg.

Madeline serves on the Board of Directors for Poets & Writers, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving creative writers. She graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Fine Arts in 1991. She lives in New York with her husband and twin sons.    

Sonny Mehta Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group U.S.

Ajai Singh "Sonny" Mehta is Editor in Chief of Alfred A. Knopf Publishers. He is also Chairman of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, which includes Knopf, Doubleday, Nan A. Talese, Pantheon, Schocken, Vintage/Anchor, and Everyman's Library.

Since his arrival at Knopf in 1987, Sonny has maintained and enhanced the house's international reputation for literature and bookmaking of the highest quality. He is also highly regarded for his innovative direction of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, particularly for the complete redesign and expansion of Vintage Books. Long a quality trade paperback publisher, it is now the leader in its field. In 1991, he orchestrated the relaunch of Everyman's Library—one of the most extensive and distinguished libraries of classics in the world—in beautifully printed, affordable hardcover editions. During his time at Knopf, Sonny has worked with and published many notable authors, including John Banville, Bill Buford, Peter Carey, Bill Clinton, William Dalrymple, Katherine Dunn, James Ellroy, Nora Ephron, Katharine Graham, Robert Harris, Carl Hiaasen, Kazuo Ishiguro, P. D. James, Michael Ondaatje, Stieg Larsson, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jo Nesbo, Graham Swift, and Anne Tyler.

Under Sonny's leadership, Knopf Doubleday authors have been awarded 34 Pulitzer Prizes, 12 National Book Awards, 30 National Book Critics Circle Awards, 6 Man Booker Prizes, and 3 Nobel Prizes. In 2011, the London Book Fair presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in international publishing.

Born in India in 1942, Sonny was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar, and at Cambridge University. Prior to joining Knopf, he worked with such notable authors as Ryszard Kapuscinski, Germaine Greer, and Douglas Adams. He began his publishing career in London as an Editorial Assistant at Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., before going on to found Paladin Books. Following that, he was Editorial Director of Granada Paperbacks, comprising the Panther, Mayflower, and Paladin imprints. In 1972, he served as Editorial Director and, later, Publishing Director of Pan Books, where he was instrumental in establishing the highly successful Picador trade paperback imprint.

Claire von Schilling Executive Vice President, Director, Corporate Communications, Penguin Random House

Claire von Schilling is Executive Vice President, Director, Corporate Communications at Penguin Random House. In this global role, she oversees media relations, internal communications, branding, social responsibility, including corporate giving, and public affairs. She is focused on telling the company story and building the corporate brand with key stakeholder audiences. She was a global lead for the pre-merger communications for Penguin Random House, oversaw the development of the combined company’s brand identity, and has since initiated and launched a number of internal and external publicity and brand campaigns.

Claire joined Random House as Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications in 2011. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Corporate Communications at Sony Music, which she joined when the company was SONY BMG in 2006. She had previously worked in Corporate Communications at Bertelsmann, the majority shareholder of Penguin Random House. Claire started her career in Washington, DC handling Public and Government Affairs and Corporate Foundation management at a division of Ford Motor Company at the time, Mazda North American Operations. Claire holds a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. She lives just outside of New York City with her husband and son.

Gaurav Shrinagesh CEO, Penguin Random House India

Gaurav is the CEO of Penguin Random House India. He oversees the companies operations in the South Asia region publishing across adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction titles. Under Gaurav’s leadership, Penguin Random House has become the leading publisher in the region and is home to many of the region’s most widely read and beloved authors.

Gaurav joined Bertelsmann in 1999 in the highly coveted Bertelsmann Entrepreneurs Program and has held a number of senior positions across the company, having lived and worked in South East Asia, Australia, Germany, New York and China prior to being named Managing Director of Random House India in 2009 and taking over the helm of Penguin Random House India on July 1, 2013. He has worked in a number of key roles for the company including in strategy & M&A, content, new media & digital and change management building businesses from start up to scale.

Born in India in 1970, Gaurav was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai and an MBA from The Melbourne Business School.

Anke Steinecke Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Penguin Random House

Anke Steinecke was appointed General Counsel of Penguin Random House in the US in July 2016, and named Chief Legal Officer of Penguin Random House worldwide in January 2018. In addition to leading the legal team in the US, she advises and provides legal support across territories with an emphasis on a pragmatic, collaborative, and productive approach to legal matters.

Anke is a recognized expert in First Amendment and Intellectual Property law, and she and her team counsel on all aspects of the publishing process, prepublication and content review, litigation, material transactions, including corporate and commercial contracts and M&A, licensing and intellectual property matters, finance and data protection/privacy and general corporate matters.

Previously, Anke served first as counsel for Random House Children’s Books, and then for more than 10 years for the Knopf Doubleday Group, where she handled an extensive number of complex publishing-related matters and negotiations. She has been the lead in-house attorney and advisor on mergers and acquisitions, starting with Golden Books in 2000, and more recently the trade publishing business of Santillana and Edicones B in Spain and Latin America.

Prior to joining Random House in 2000, Anke was an attorney with the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where she advised book publishers and other media companies in First Amendment and Intellectual Property matters.

Anke has law degrees from the University of Munich in Germany and NYU. (LLM).

Frank Steinert Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Penguin Random House

Frank Steinert was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Random House. He was promoted to that position in November 2011, after having served the dual function of Divisional Head of Human Resources worldwide and Head of the human resources department in the United States. After joining the company in 2008, Frank reshaped the role of human resources at Random House, transforming the department into a valued business partner for its U.S. divisions. He introduced several game-changing global HR programs and initiatives, such as the first consistent performance and development program and the creation of the Random House Campus, a suite of global development offerings, which launched in 2010 with a global exchange program and was soon followed by the Random House Circle and the Random House Editorial Conference, in 2011 and 2012. Since 2008, he has also represented Random House in the Bertelsmann HR Committee, a cross-divisional group of senior executives who have defined and set the Bertelsmann HR agenda and strategy.

Prior to joining Random House, Frank spent nearly eight years at Arvato Systems in Guetersloh, Germany, first as Director of Legal Affairs, from 2001 to 2004, and subsequently as Head of Human Resources and Legal Affairs, from 2004 to 2008.

Previously, he worked for nearly three years at Rademacher und Kollegen in Bayreuth, Germany, the first two as a junior lawyer and the third as an attorney. Frank holds an Executive MBA in accounting and controlling from the University of Muenster in Germany.

Tom Weldon CEO, Penguin Random House U.K.

Tom Weldon was brought up in London. He studied history at Oxford University, then was hired as a graduate trainee by Macmillan. After three years as a nonfiction commissioning editor there, he joined William Heinemann, then owned by Reed Elsevier. He spent nine years there as an Executive Editor; American Editorial Director, based in New York; and Publisher of the imprint.

In 1997 he moved to Penguin as Publishing Director of Michael Joseph. In 2001 he became Managing Director of the Penguin General division (then comprising the Michael Joseph, Viking, Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree, and Penguin Ireland imprints). He was made Deputy CEO of Penguin U.K. in 2009 and CEO in January 2011.

In July 2013, he was appointed the first CEO of Penguin Random House U.K.

Tom has also attended London Business School. From the age of nine, Tom has had a passion for horse racing. In his view, gambling is very important to publishing as well. He does not find it surprising, therefore, that he fell in love with publishing on his first day at Macmillan, and that love has never gone away.