Simon & Schuster names former Amazon executive Greg Greeley as CEO, succeeding Jonathan Karp

NEW YORK (AP) — Upending a long-standing tradition of promoting from within the ranks. Simon and Schuster has named former Amazon.com executive Greg Greeley as its new CEO. The broadcaster announced Monday that Greeley’s appointment is effective immediately.

Greeley’s selection marks the first time Simon & Schuster has hired a CEO from outside the company, a spokesperson confirmed. Greeley, 62, succeeds Jonathan Karp, who announced last year that he was leaving his position at Simon Six publishing house to start his own imprint. Celebrating its centenary in 2024, Simon & Schuster Stephen King, Colleen Hoover And Bob Woodward and many other bestselling and award-winning authors.

While Karp is a longtime editor and publisher who previously served as president of Simon & Schuster’s flagship brand, Greeley has a background in business and investing. He spent nearly 20 years at Amazon, where his roles included vice president of Amazon Prime. He left in 2018 to serve as president of Airbnb’s Homes division. He most recently served as president and COO of biotechnology startup Opentrons and CEO of Trasio, a consumer products company.

“Greg Greeley is a talented and strategic leader with extensive experience leading businesses in physical and digital markets,” Richard Sarnoff, the publisher’s chairman of the board, said in a statement. he said. “His depth of expertise and passionate love of books give us confidence that he is the right CEO to lead Simon & Schuster forward as it embarks on its next 100 years.”

Greeley will lead Simon & Schuster at a time of rapid change in the industry, with publishers, authors and agents debating the role of artificial intelligence in the future of books.

Simon & Schuster has endured much turmoil over the past few years, including the death of Karp’s predecessor, CEO Carolyn Reidy, and an attempted sale to Penguin Random House that was blocked by a federal judge due to antitrust concerns. Simon & Schuster’s then-corporate owners, Paramount Global, sold the publisher to private equity firm KKR in 2023.

“Simon & Schuster has played an enduring role in sharing and shaping human culture through books, and I am honored to fulfill that mission for a new generation of writers and readers,” Greeley said in a statement.

This story corrects the year of the centennial celebration to 2024.