On April 2, 2020,Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase of Penguin Random House, which had been announced in December 2019, by buyingPearson plc's 25% ownership of the company. With the purchase, Bertelsmann became the sole owner of Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann's German-language publishing groupVerlagsgruppe Random House will be completely integrated into Penguin Random House, adding 45 imprints to the company, for a total of 365 imprints.[8]
As of 2021, Penguin Random House employed about 10,000 people globally and published 15,000 titles annually under its 250 divisions and imprints.[9] These titles includefiction andnonfiction for adults and children in both print and digital. Penguin Random House comprises Penguin and Random House in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, and India; Penguin in Brazil, Asia and South Africa;Dorling Kindersley worldwide; and Random House's companies in Spain, Hispanic America, and Germany.[10][11]
Penguin Random House was formed on July 1, 2013 byMarkus Dohle upon the completion of a £2.4 billion transaction between Bertelsmann and Pearson to merge their respective trade publishing companies,Random House andPenguin Group. Bertelsmann and Pearson, the parent companies, initially owned 53% and 47%, respectively.[16] Jane Ciabattari ofLibrary Journal has referred to this merger as the publishing industry's response to the increasing dominance ofAmazon.com in the book market.[17] Dohle was named CEO of the new company, which had more than 10,000 employees worldwide with more than 250 imprints and publishing houses and a publishing list of more than 15,000 new titles a year.[9][11][18] Penguin Random House relaunched Book Country, Penguin's online writing community, on July 29, 2013.[19] On September 24, 2014,Random House Studio signed afirst-look production deal withUniversal Pictures, under which Random House would be the producer of films based on Penguin Random House books. The Universal subsidiaryFocus Features has frequently collaborated with Random House Films.[20] Having previously createdPuffin Rock animation, Richard Haines was chosen to head Penguin Random House Children's TV development strategy with the assistance of licensing, publishing, and TV development executive Emily Campan.[21]
In November 2015, Pearson announced it would rebrand to focus on its education division.[22] On July 11, 2017, Pearson sold 22% of its stake in the business to Bertelsmann, thereby retaining a 25% holding.[23][24] On December 18, 2019, Bertelsmann agreed to acquire Pearson's 25% stake in Penguin Random House,[25] making it a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann. The sale was completed on April 2, 2020.[8] In June 2020, Penguin Random House became part of a group of publishers who sued theInternet Archive, arguing that its collection of e-books was denying authors and publishers revenue and accusing the library of "willful mass copyright infringement".[26][27]
On November 25, 2020, Penguin Random House agreed to purchase American publisherSimon & Schuster fromViacomCBS for $2.175 billion, with a formal regulatory approval process to follow the purchase agreement.[28] On November 2, 2021, theUS Justice Department filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster, alleging that the acquisition would create a publisher with too much influence over books and author payments.[29] In October 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the Justice Department.[30] On November 21, 2022, Penguin Random House officially scrapped the deal. As a result, it was to pay a $200 million termination fee to the recently rebrandedParamount Global.[31] Simon & Schuster would instead be sold toKohlberg Kravis Roberts on October 30, 2023.[32]
In July 2024, it was announced that Penguin Random House would acquire comic book publisherBoom! Studios.[33]
Crown Publishing was founded in 1933 as the Outlet Book Company, a remainder house, and is now a publisher of fiction and narrative non-fiction.[35] In 2018, Crown was combined with the main Random House Publishing Group.[36]
Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, established in 2010 as a boutique publisher of VP Pamela Dorman
Penguin, established in 1935 in the UK as a publisher of mass market paperbacks; houses Penguin Books, Penguin Classics, and most recently Penguin Press
Perigee, originally the trade paperback imprint for G.P. Putnam's Sons; publishes prescriptive non-fiction, self-help and how-to books
Plume, trade paperback imprint with a focus on multi-cultural andLGBT publishing
Ballantine Books, founded in 1952 to publish fiction and nonfiction hardcover and paperback titles
Bantam Books, originally a publisher of mass-market reprints; currently publishes fiction and nonfiction in all formats
Boom! Studios, founded in 2005 and acquired in 2024 as a publisher of comic books and graphic novels
Delacorte Press, founded in 1921 as a publisher of pulp magazines, detective stories, and movie articles, has expanded to publish original fiction in all formats
Del Rey Books, branch of Ballantine Books that focuses on science fiction and fantasy titles
Book Country was a subsidiary online writing and publishing community.[61] Book Country was launched in April 2011 with a focus on romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy. On July 29, 2013, Book Country relaunched with online writing workshops in more than 60 literary categories, includingliterary fiction, memoir, andwomen's fiction.[19] As of September 2013, the site had more than 10,000 members.[62] As of May 2025, new members cannot register an account, and it appears that previously registered members can only access limited features.[63]
^abjoint venture with Amperwelle Studio München Programmanbietergesellschaft,Axel Springer AG, Burda, Studio Gong, m.b.t. Mediengesellschaft der bayerischen Tageszeitungen für Kabelkommunikation, Medienpool and Radio Bavaria Rundfunkprogrammgesellschaft.
^joint venture with Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack, Studio Gong Niedersachsen and Brune-Rieck-Beteiligungs.
^joint venture with Axel Springer, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Lühmanndruck Harburger Zeitungsgesellschaft and Morgenpost Verlag.
€4.53 billion[1] (2023)
