The company he (Marcus Dohle) now heads, whose merger was finalized on Canada Day, has almost 250 separate publishing imprints, spanning five continents, many of which act as almost independent companies. It employs more than 10,000 people. It will publish 15,000 books each year. And it will all add up to revenue of $3.9-billion, controlling 25 per cent of the American trade-book market, and an even higher portion in Canada.
To say it is the biggest publishing company in the world is somehow to undersell it, like pointing out that the Beatles had a few fans, or that pizza is sort of tasty.
–excerpted from Jared Bland’s excellent article on Marcus Dohle and Penguin Random House at the Globe and Mail
