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Jane Friedman has become the second US publishing c.e.o. to step down in recent weeks amid increasing pressure on the industry. In a shock announcment that caught many observers by surprise, Friedman said "it was not easy to make the decision to step down", but did not give a reason. HarperCollins president Brian Murray is taking over the duties of chief executive.
Rumours of her departure began to emerge late yesterday on various US blogs: http://gawker.com/tag/rumormonger/?i=5013252&t=harpercollins-ceo-fired" target="_blank" title="Gawker">Gawker initially reported that she had been fired. But other reports suggested that she had left of her own accord.
http://www.observer.com/2008/its-official-jane-friedman-out-harpercollin... title="NYObserver">According to the New York Observer, the news came as a shock to Friedman's colleagues, with no hint of the news to come from an ebullient Friedman at last weekend's Book Expo America. Friedman told delegates at the Harper BEA party: "I love being CEO". A poor first quarter performance reported in November did inspire some rumblings among publishing insiders that a change in leadership was conceivable. At least two of the publishing division heads at HarperCollins were caught by surprise when contacted, the newspaper notes, with one high-ranking person at HarperCollins dismissing it as someone's idea of a joke.
She is the second high-ranking c.e.o. to leave her post in a month, after Random House's Peter Olson left in the week before BEA.
The publishing company owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said Friedman's resignation Wednesday was effective immediately. "We are enormously grateful for her contributions over the past 10 years and understand her desire to seek new challenges at this point in her career," Murdoch said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
Friedman began overseeing HarperCollins' worldwide book publishing in 1997. Previously, she was an executive vice president at Random House Inc and the Knopf Publishing Group. She also was publisher of Vintage Books and founder and president of Random House Audio Publishing.
"My 10 years at HarperCollins have been far and away the most rewarding of my career and so it was not easy to make the decision to step down," said Friedman. "During the past decade, we have enjoyed tremendous success while expanding our brand on-line and around the world."
Murdoch said Murray was "ideally suited to work with his colleagues at News Corporation and HarperCollins to achieve even greater success". He added: "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."
Friedman commented: "I am extremely pleased to be succeeded by Brian Murray, an incredibly talented individual and executive, and a true lover of books, who is the perfect person to lead our team to continued success in the future."