A DEEPER LOOK AT THE TOP 5 LARGEST PUBLISHING COMPANIES
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Annual Revenue: $3.3 billion
Formed in 2013, Penguin Random House is less than a decade old. Formed by the merging of Random House, owned by German media company Bertelsmann, and Penguin Group, owned by Pearson plc, Penguin Random House publishes 15,000 titles annually under its 250 divisions.
The company signed a first-look production deal with Universal Pictures in 2014 where Random House would be the producer of films based on Penguin Random House books.
In 2015, the company expanded and rebranded its focus on its education division. Most recently, in November of 2020, Penguin Random House agreed to the purchase of Simon & Schuster for $2.175 billion.
2)Hachette Livre
Annual Revenue: $2.7 billion
Hachette is a French publisher that was founded in 1826, initially as a bookshop and publishing company. The organization acquired a number of different companies to expand its global presence and now includes Hachette Australia, Hachette UK, Hachette Book Group USA, among others.Their acquisitions allowed them to develop in areas like comic books, webcomics, and adult coloring books. The business is involved in three core businesses including publishing, partworks, and distribution.
3)Springer Nature
Annual Revenue: $1.9 billion
Springer Nature is an English-German academic publishing company created when Springer Science + Business Media and Holtzbrinck Publishing Grou’s Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Macmillan Education merged together to form one company in 2015.
The business employs over 10,000 employees and has a number of subsidiaries including BioMed Central, Macmillan Education, Nature Research, Scientific American, Springer Healthcare, Springer Gabler, among others.
4)Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
Annual Revenue: $1.7 billion
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., more commonly known as Wiley, is an American-owned publishing organization founded in 1807. The business’ main focus is on academic publishing and instructional materials for educational purposes.
Wiley produces books as well as journals and encyclopedias that are available to purchase in print and in digital versions, as well as additional online products and services.
Headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, Wiley was initially started as a print shop in Manhattan. The company published many notable literary figures including James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe.
5)McGraw-Hill Education
Annual Revenue: $1.7 billion
McGraw-Hill is an American learning math company and considered one of the “big three” educational publishers in the world.
This organization provides educational content that can be customized, software, and services for students from pre-kindergarten through postgraduate education.
In 2013, McGray Hill Education was acquired by Apollo Global Management for $2.4 billion. Alongside their traditional educational materials, McGraw Hill provides digital products and services to over 11 million users.