Jack Romanos, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, Inc., announced that he will retire from that post effective 31 December 2007. He will continue to serve in an advisory capacity to CBS Corporation President and CEO Leslie Moonves through 2009. Announcing his departure, Romanos said “The past twenty-two years have been especially gratifying to me. Simon & Schuster has enjoyed a period of tremendous growth as it has evolved from its foundation imprints of S&S and Pocket Books into a multi-faceted, truly world class international publishing company with a well-deserved reputation for publishing excellence, and a roster of top bestselling and award winning authors.”
Carolyn K. Reidy, who is currently President of Simon & Schuster’s Adult Publishing Division, will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer.
Moonves said “For many years Jack has combined the art of publishing and the science of business to lead Simon & Schuster to its indisputable position as one of the world’s greatest and most successful publishing companies. Jack would have had a terrific career no matter what business he was in, but Simon & Schuster and the world of publishing has been fortunate to benefit from his savvy management, inspired business instincts and steady guiding hand during an era of great change in their industry.”
Romanos joined Simon & Schuster in 1985 as President of Pocket Books. He became President of the Simon & Schuster Consumer Group in 1991, President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998, and was named President and CEO in 2002. Before joining S&S, he was Publisher of Bantam Books, and started his publishing career with Fawcett Publications in 1966.
Simon & Schuster’s imprints include genre publishers Aladdin, Atheneum, Fireside, Pocket, and Touchstone.