NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIACA, VIAC) (“ViacomCBS”) today announced that Jonathan Karp has been promoted to President and CEO of Simon & Schuster, Inc., effective immediately. Karp will oversee all of Simon & Schuster’s domestic and international publishing operations. He succeeds Carolyn Reidy, former President and CEO of Simon & Schuster, who passed away earlier this month.
Karp most recently served as President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, which includes Atria Books, Avid Reader Press, Gallery Books, Scribner, Simon & Schuster and their associated sub-imprints and lines.
“Jon embodies the values that Carolyn instilled at Simon & Schuster, and he is well suited to guide the continued growth and evolution of this incredible global brand,” said ViacomCBS President and CEO Bob Bakish. “Jon was a key member of the leadership team that consistently delivered strong results for Simon & Schuster, while expanding its readership across genres and formats. He is a highly skilled executive who is deeply committed to the collaborative process of publishing, and will no doubt build upon a storied legacy of success.”
“For 96 years, Simon & Schuster has been the gold standard for publishing books that satisfy and illuminate readers, and I am grateful for the opportunity to inherit this great legacy,” said Karp. “We will continue to build on the strong foundation that Carolyn Reidy and the leadership team have in place to publish books we believe in and love.”
Karp joined Simon & Schuster in June 2010. During his tenure, he oversaw the publication of bestselling and acclaimed works including Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, What Happened by Hillary Clinton, Fear by Bob Woodward, Frederick Douglass by David Blight (winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History), Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, In One Person by John Irving, The Library Book by Susan Orlean, and the launch of Mobituaries by Mo Rocca, an acclaimed book and podcast co-produced with CBS Sunday Morning. Karp was named President of Adult Publishing in 2018: under his management the imprints within the group have introduced many new authors to bestsellerdom including Jack Carr, Mary Beth Keane, Megan Miranda, Mike Rowe and Rebecca Serle.
Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Karp was Publisher and Editor in Chief of Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005. At Twelve, Karp published numerous highly-acclaimed bestselling works, including True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy, God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, and War by Sebastian Junger. At Random House, where he began his career and rose to Editor-in-Chief, he acquired and edited Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham, Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley, and Faith of My Fathers by John McCain and Mark Salter, the first of seven books they published together.
Karp earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and his Master of Arts degree from New York University.
About Jonathan Karp
Jonathan Karp was named Publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint in June 2010. During his tenure, he has overseen the publication of bestselling authors such as Hillary Rodham Clinton, Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Irving, Walter Isaacson, David McCullough, Susan Orlean, and Bob Woodward, while launching acclaimed books by Jonah Berger, Bill Browder, Rinker Buck, Lisa Halliday, Chip and Dan Heath, Adam Higginbotham, Siri Hustvedt, Saeed Jones, Naomi Klein, Jessica Knoll, Samin Nosrat, Vaddey Ratner, Matthew Thomas and Rebecca Traister. Other notable authors and cultural figures brought to the imprint’s list during Mr. Karp’s tenure include Tom Brady, Stephen Colbert, Ray Dalio, Clive Davis, Nelson DeMille, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brian Grazer, Sam Lipsyte, Gucci Mane, Chris Matthews, John McCain, Martha Nussbaum, Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen, Howard Stern, Andrew Sullivan, and Herman Wouk.
Among the highlights of Mr. Karp’s ten years as publisher were the publication of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, What Happened by Hillary Clinton, Fear by Bob Woodward, Frederick Douglass by David Blight (winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History), Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, In One Person by John Irving, The Library Book by Susan Orlean, and the launch of Mobituaries by Mo Rocca, an acclaimed book and podcast co-produced with CBS Sunday Morning.
In 2018, Mr. Karp was named President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, encompassing the company’s New York–based adult trade publishing: Atria Books, Gallery Books, Scribner, Simon & Schuster and their associated sub-imprints and lines. During his tenure, the adult group launched a successful new imprint, Avid Reader Press, and established the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau.
Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Mr. Karp was Publisher and Editor in Chief of Twelve, an imprint of the Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005. At Twelve, Mr. Karp published numerous highly-acclaimed bestselling works, including True Compass by the late Edward M. Kennedy, God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley, Columbine by Dave Cullen, Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, and War by Sebastian Junger.
Prior to founding Twelve, Mr. Karp was Editor in Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career in 1989 as an editorial assistant and worked for sixteen years. At Random House, Mr. Karp acquired and edited an eclectic and diverse list of bestselling fiction and nonfiction titles including Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson, What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson, Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley, Faith of My Fathers by John McCain and Mark Salter, Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, The Last Don by Mario Puzo and The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.
He has also edited fiction by Steven Bochco, Elizabeth Frank, Eric Garcia, Neil Gordon, Rupert Holmes, C.J. Hribal, David Ignatius, David Liss, and Mark Winegardner; and works of nonfiction by Alan Alda, Henry Alford, Marcia Angell, Sally Bedell Smith, Buzz Bissinger, Alex Berenson, Joel Glenn Brenner, Vicki Constantine Croke, Gregg Easterbrook, David Frum, Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose, John Harris, Gary Hart, Miles Harvey, Constance Hays, Donald Katz, David Kushner, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Eric Liu, Jeffrey Rosen, David Plotz, Kenneth Pollack, Gary Rivlin, Jim Rogers, Ron Rosenbaum, Jonathan Schwartz, Billy Shore, Carol Spinney, Mike Stanton, Donna Summer, Kara Swisher, John Taylor, Andrew Tobias, Donald Trump, Paul Wellstone, Juan Williams, Michael J. Wolf, and Mitchell Zuckoff.
Mr. Karp earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and his Master of Arts degree from New York University. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, The American Scholar, and The Washington Post and contributed a chapter to What Editors Do: The Art Craft & Business of Book Editing (The University of Chicago Press). He also wrote the book and lyrics to a musical, How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes, which premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival and had a brief Off-Broadway run.
About ViacomCBS
ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, CBS All Access, Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. The company delivers the largest share of the U.S. television audience and boasts one of the industry’s most important and extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, ViacomCBS provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions for partners on five continents.
For more information about ViacomCBS, please visit www.viacbs.com and follow @ViacomCBS on social platforms.
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