Peter Olson

The publishing industry was vocally unsurprised on Monday when The New York Times’ Mark Landler reported that Peter Olson, the towering and strange CEO of Random House, had fallen out of favor with leadership at Bertelsmann, the German conglomerate, and would soon be relieved of his duties after 10 years at the helm. “I heard this ages ago!” was the note most tried to sound. Big deal!

Thus, two important publishers exchanged lighthearted e-mails: “Are you getting the job?” “No, are you?” A third explained over the phone, “It finally reveals what we have all kind of known.” Industry record keeper Michael Cader posted a link to the Times story on his Web site, Publisher’s Lunch, with a summary that began, “The NYT’s man in Frankfurt Mark Landler echoes the story (and persistent rumors) we cited recently …”  read more »

The New York Times is reporting that Peter Olson, who has been C.E.O. of Random House since 1998, will step down "in the next few weeks." Two unnamed executives from Random House's parent company Bertelsmann tell the Times' Mark Landler that pressure on Mr. Olson to vacate his post is coming from Bertelsmann's recently-appointed chief executive Hartmut Ostrowski, who "has lost patience with the performance" of Random House's U.S.  read more »