German media giant Bertelsmann said Friday Markus Dohle is stepping down as chief executive officer of Penguin Random House at the end of 2022, and resigning his seat on the Bertelsmann executive board at his own request.
Bertelsmann named Penguin Random House U.S. president and chief operating officer Nihar Malaviya as interim CEO of Penguin Random House. Dohle said he decided to step down, “following the antitrust decision in the U.S. against the [$2.2 billion] merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.” Christoph Mohn, chairman of the Bertelsmann supervisory board, said the company’s book division doubled sales and increased profit by 4x under Dohle. “We regret Markus Dohle’s decision to leave Bertelsmann and Penguin Random House,” Mohn said.
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