Few people have been more influential in the world of publishing than Markus Dohle. As former CEO of Penguin Random House, Dohle led the largest trade book publisher in the worldfrom 2013-2022. It was a massive undertaking, with Dohle serving as the first-ever chief executive of the combined Penguin Random House, which made the new company the industry’s unchallenged market leader. From there, he presided over an era of enormous growth. Dohle is credited with leading his company's expansion of printing capacity and distribution network. These accomplishments are even more impressive because at the time, many in the industry predicted that the print business would shrivel and e-books would become dominant.
The numbers make his success undeniable. As CEO of Penguin Random House, Dohle was responsible for overseeing the company's worldwide publishing divisions: up to 270 editorially independent imprints publishing 15,000 new adult fiction, children’s fiction, and nonfiction titles each year. By the time he left, his publishing powerhouse was selling more than 700 million copies annually. The quality of its writing talent is equally impressive. The company's roster of elite scribes includes more than 70 Nobel Prize laureates and over 100 Pulitzer Prize winners. Meanwhile, in 2018, Penguin Random House U.S. was rated no. 1 on Forbes’ List of America’s Best Midsize Employers.
An engineer by training, Dohle hasspent decades focused on supporting all facets of the book industry: authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers. Prior to the 2013 merger of Penguin and Random House, Dohle headed Random House, where he led the company’s transition to digital publishing. Earlier in his career, he worked at Bertelsmann, one of the world's largest media conglomerates. There he managed the company’s book distribution business, and quickly rose through the ranks.
Despite leaving Penguin Random House at the end of 2022, Dohle remains active in the publishing world. He serves as vice chairman of the Association of American Publishers; as a member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board; on the board of directors of the National Book Foundation; on the international advisory committee of the Atlantic Council; and on the PEN America board, among many other endeavors.