Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp steps down to launch new imprint

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NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of Simon & Schuster, Jonathan Karp, is stepping down from his position, but will remain with the company as the head of a new imprint.

“My north star has always been our authors and their books, and I have decided it’s time for me to return to the part of publishing that animates me the most,” Karp said in a statement Tuesday. “I remain deeply committed to our mission and am excited to remain a devoted shareholder who will support our next leader and the entire team however I can.”

Karp, 61, has had an eventful and often tumultuous reign since becoming president and CEO of Simon & Schuster in 2020. His predecessor, Carolyn Reidy, had died suddenly and he soon found himself guiding the century-old publisher through the pandemic amid ongoing uncertainty about its ownership. Parent company Paramount Global's sale of Simon & Schuster to rival publisher Penguin Random House was blocked in 2022 by a federal judge after the Department of Justice sued over antitrust concerns. In 2023, Simon & Schuster was sold to the private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion.

Authors at Simon & Schuster include Bob Woodward, Stephen King and Colleen Hoover.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Karp said that a search for his successor has begun and that he will stay in his current job until one is chosen. Meanwhile, he will launch the imprint Simon Six, publishing just six books a year. Karp's new job will be similar to a previous one: In 2005, he founded Twelve, a Hachette Book Group imprint that released only one book a month. Sen. Ted Kennedy's “True Compass” and Christopher Hitchens' “God Is Not Great” were among Twelve's bestsellers.

As Simon & Schuster's CEO, Karp continued to work directly with some authors, including former Vice President Kamala Harris for her upcoming campaign memoir, “107 Days,” and a longtime favorite of Karp's, John Irving, for his new novel, “Queen Esther.”

“I loved the challenge of being CEO, but there had to be an end point,” Karp told the AP. “I think what every editor really wants, more than anything else, is a good ending.”