Simon & Schuster LLC

Who owns Simon & Schuster?

Simon & Schuster is owned by investment funds managed by KKR & Co. Inc., which completed a $1.62 billion acquisition from Paramount Global in October 2023. Employees also hold an equity stake under KKR's ownership program.

Is Simon & Schuster publicly traded?

No. The publisher is private. Its owner KKR is publicly traded on the NYSE under ticker KKR, but S&S itself has no listing.

When was Simon & Schuster founded?

It was founded in 1924 in New York City by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Its first title was The Cross Word Puzzle Book.

Who is the CEO of Simon & Schuster?

Greg Greeley became CEO in March 2026. He succeeded Jonathan Karp, who led the company from 2020 through the KKR acquisition and now runs the Simon Six imprint.

What happened to the Penguin Random House merger?

The US Department of Justice sued to block the $2.175 billion sale to Penguin Random House and won in federal court in late 2022. Paramount then sold S&S to KKR in 2023.

Richard Simon, a pianist turned book salesman, and Max Schuster, a magazine editor, founded the company in 1924. Their first title, The Cross Word Puzzle Book, packaged a newspaper fad into book form and sold hundreds of thousands of copies with a pencil attached. The company went on to originate the Pocket Books mass market paperback in 1939, which helped turn paperbacks into a mainstream format in the United States.

The company changed hands repeatedly as publishing consolidated. It passed to Marshall Field in 1944, was repurchased by the founders in 1957, and was sold to Gulf and Western in 1975. Gulf and Western became Paramount Communications, then Paramount Global, carrying S&S through the Viacom and CBS corporate rearrangements for almost fifty years.

Under Paramount, S&S absorbed or launched notable imprints including Atria, Gallery, Scribner (acquired in the 1994 Macmillan deal), Threshold Editions, and Avid Reader Press. Its children's group built major franchises, and its audio business grew into a meaningful revenue line as audiobook consumption expanded.

In 2020 Paramount put the publisher up for sale. Penguin Random House agreed to buy it for $2.175 billion, but the US Department of Justice sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds. A federal court ruled against the merger in late 2022, and Paramount terminated the agreement, collecting a $200 million breakup fee from Penguin Random House's parent Bertelsmann.

KKR agreed to acquire S&S in August 2023 and closed the $1.62 billion purchase that October. Under KKR the company added employees, launched new imprints, and expanded internationally, acquiring Dutch publisher VBK Uitgevers in May 2024 and growing its third-party distribution business. Jonathan Karp announced in August 2025 that he would step down; Greg Greeley, a former Amazon and Airbnb executive, took over in March 2026.

Publishing's footprint centers on paper sourcing, printing, and freight. S&S participates in industry efforts on responsible paper procurement and has set emissions reporting practices consistent with its parent's sustainability framework. Its larger ethical dimension is editorial: the house manages ongoing debates over book bans, controversial author contracts, and freedom of expression, issues that periodically put individual titles and imprints in the news.

The defining regulatory event was the Justice Department's successful 2022 antitrust suit blocking Penguin Random House's acquisition of S&S. The government argued the deal would depress advances paid to authors; the court agreed.

The company has also faced periodic labor tension, including unionization efforts at US operations in recent years, and public criticism connected to specific author contracts and cancellations. None has materially affected operations. KKR's private equity model draws general criticism for cost pressure at portfolio companies, though at S&S the firm has so far expanded rather than cut staffing.