Penguin Random House U.S. CEO Madeline McIntosh to step down

One of Penguin Random House’s top executives, U.S. CEO Madeline McIntosh, is stepping down. Her decision comes just weeks after the resignation of the global CEO, Markus Dohle, and the retirement of Random House Publishing Group head Gina Centrello. The departures all follow last fall’s ruling by a federal judge to block the company’s attempted purchase of rival publisher Simon & Schuster, and an antitrust trial in Washington, D.C. last summer that revealed tensions among Penguin Random House executives. McIntosh, appointed CEO in 2018, had risen steadily at the publisher through numerous organizations. On Tuesday, she cited both the need for change at the publisher — “CEOs shouldn’t stay in their seats forever” — and her own desire for “professional growth.” She has worked on and off in book publishing for decades, and briefly worked for Amazon.com as part of a Kindle e-reader team based in Luxembourg.