PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Simon & Schuster
Includes Simon and Schuster, S&S
publishing · New York, NY
- PE Firm
- KKR →
- Year Acquired
- 2023
KKR bought one of the Big Five publishers for $1.62 billion and promises everything will stay the same. Sure.
What They Did
- KKR acquired Simon & Schuster from Paramount Global for $1.62 billion in 2023 — the deal went through only after the DOJ blocked Penguin Random House's $2.2 billion bid
- KKR announced an employee equity ownership program after closing — a low-cost gesture that buys good headlines while the pressure for PE-sized returns sits in the background
- S&S is one of the Big Five publishers, home to Stephen King, Colleen Hoover, and Bob Woodward. A lot of literary culture now sits inside a PE portfolio
Since the Acquisition
- No PE-driven consumer harm documented yet — KKR has pledged to maintain editorial independence and keep operations unchanged
- The long-term risk is structural: PE firms need their money back, and publishing doesn't generate huge profits — cost pressure tends to mean fewer debuts, safer bets, and less literary risk-taking
- Book prices could rise as KKR looks to wring more profit from the business, following the pattern across other PE-owned consumer brands
Sources
- KKR buys Simon & Schuster: How the private equity firm's plan to give stakes to employees will work — Slate(2023-09-01)
- Publishing company Simon & Schuster was sold for $1.62 billion to investment firm KKR — NPR(2023-08-07)
- Simon & Schuster to be sold to KKR for $1.62 billion — Washington Post(2023-08-07)
- Paramount to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion — CBS News(2023-08-07)
- KKR Completes Purchase of Simon & Schuster — Publishers Weekly(2023-10-30)
- S&S Makes Limited Staffing Changes — Publishers Weekly(2025-01-01)
- Simon & Schuster purchased by KKR for $1.62B — PBS NewsHour(2023-08-07)