Brian Murray Named President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Brian Murray has been promoted to President and Chief Executive
Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, following the
resignation today of Jane Friedman. Mr. Murray, 41, has been the
company's President since July 2007. His appointment is effective
immediately.
As President of HarperCollins Worldwide, Mr. Murray led the
development of worldwide growth initiatives including digital strategy
and investment. He also had direct responsibility for the
HarperCollins General Books Group in the U.S. which includes
HarperCollins, William Morrow and Collins publishing divisions, as
well as oversight of a variety of international operations.
"HarperCollins is an important business for News Corporation and,
in his 11-year tenure, Brian has demonstrated an impressive track
record of growing publishing companies," commented Rupert Murdoch,
Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corporation. "He is ideally
suited to work with his colleagues at News Corporation and
HarperCollins to achieve even greater success."
"I am thrilled to be taking on this new role," said Mr. Murray. "I
am looking forward to working with my colleagues to invest in and grow
our publishing businesses around the world at a time when digital
technologies are creating new opportunities to bring authors and
readers together."
Mr. Murray joined HarperCollins in 1997 and held several positions
in the General Books Group until 2001, when he was named Chief
Executive Officer of HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand, where he
significantly increased both market share and financial performance.
In 2004, he returned to HarperCollins in the U.S. as Group President
and was promoted to President of HarperCollins Worldwide in July 2007.
Mr. Murray has led the company's digital efforts which include the
development of HarperCollins digital warehouse, direct to consumer
marketing initiatives and the digitization of HarperCollins' backlist.
He has also established the company's first office in Beijing and is
responsible for its business development in China.
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in
the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX:
NWS, NWSLV). Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing
groups around the world including the HarperCollins General Books
Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins
UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and
HarperCollins India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with
strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books,
children's books, cookbooks, mystery, romance, reference, religious
and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history HarperCollins
has published some of the world's foremost authors and has won
numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and
National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott. Consistently
at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement
HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and
create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its
authors, meet consumer demand and generate additional business
opportunities. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet
at http://www.harpercollins.com.
For HarperCollins Publishers
Teri Everett, 212-852-7070
Copyright Business Wire 2008
