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51-542: Random House of Canada was established in 1944 as the Canadian distributor of Random House Books . In 1986, Random House launched its Canadian publishing program. In 1998, Random House (USA) merged with another major publishing company, Bantam Doubleday Dell . Due to this international merger, both companies' Canadian branches merged as well, publishing international titles in this country as well as maintaining their Canadian publishing program. In 2012, Random House of Canada became

102-542: A Jewish family of Alsatian and German ethnicity. Cerf's father Gustave Cerf was a lithographer ; his mother, Frederika Wise, was heiress to a tobacco-distribution fortune. She died when Bennett was 15; shortly afterward, her brother Herbert moved into the Cerf household and became a strong literary and social influence on the teenager. Cerf graduated from Townsend Harris Hall Prep School in Hamilton Heights in 1916,

153-842: A company he bought a person." In 2003, Random House reentered the distribution business. Coinciding with the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the publishing industry was hit hard with weak retail sales. In May 2008, Random House CEO Peter Olson stepped down and was replaced by Markus Dohle . In October of that year, Doubleday, a division of Random House, announced that they would lay off 16 people, representing approximately 10% of its workforce. In early December 2008, which became known as Black Wednesday in publishing circles, many publishers including Random House took steps by restructuring their divisions and laying off employees. The reorganization consolidated and created three divisions, including Random House Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and Crown Publishing Group. Susan Kamil

204-625: A digital distributor of downloadable e-books . Through this the distribution agreement, Canadian libraries, schools and colleges were able to access Random House titles through OverDrive's e-book catalog. In 2012, the company launched the online magazine Hazlitt , which features both fiction and non-fiction writing. Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House . Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library , it quickly overtook Modern Library as

255-516: A diversification strategy. Random House acquired the paperback book publisher Ballantine Books in 1973. RCA sold Random House to Advance Publications in 1980. Random House began publishing audiobooks in 1985. In 1988, Random House acquired Crown Publishing Group . Also in 1988, McGraw-Hill acquired Random House's Schools and Colleges division. In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and merged it with Bantam Doubleday Dell and it soon went global. In 1999, Random House acquired

306-630: A hundred percent subsidiary of Bertelsmann instead but de facto is led by the same management. It is the second largest book publisher in Germany with more than 40 imprints, including historic publishing houses Goldmann and Heyne Verlag , as well as C. Bertelsmann, the publishing house from which today's Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA would eventually evolve. Verlagsgruppe Random House is headquartered in Munich (with additional locations in Gütersloh (where Bertelsmann

357-411: A legal entity, is defunct. In 2013, when Random House of Canada become defunct, it published under several imprints, including: Anchor Canada was created in 2001. It publishes trade paperback editions of many of Doubleday Canada's titles. In 2002, Anchor Canada published its first original trade paperback titled The Notebooks: Interviews and New Fiction from Contemporary Writers . Bond Street Books

408-668: A reporter for the New York Herald Tribune and for some time in a Wall Street brokerage . He then was named a vice president at Boni & Liveright , a publishing company. In 1925, Cerf and Donald S. Klopfer formed a partnership to purchase the rights to the Modern Library from Boni & Liveright, and they went into business for themselves. The two increased the popularity of the series, and in 1927, they began publishing general trade books that they had selected at random. Cerf and Klopfer's acquisition of Modern Library

459-470: A share. This was a factor in decisions by other publishing companies, including Simon & Schuster , to later go public. American publishers Alfred A. Knopf , Inc. and Beginner Books were acquired by Random House in 1960, followed by Pantheon Books in 1961; works continue to be published under these imprints with editorial independence, such as Everyman's Library , a series of classical literature reprints. In 1965, RCA bought Random House as part of

510-624: A strong foothold: food, lifestyle, health, wellness, business, and Christian." "We must invest even more aggressively in title-level and scaled marketing programs, capabilities and partnerships", she added. In 2019, Penguin Random House acquired British children's book publisher Little Tiger Group, including Tiger Tales Press, a U.S. subsidiary, and added it to Random House Children's Books. Penguin Random House announced an agreement to purchase Boom! Studios in July 2024, where Boom! would become part of Random House Worlds. The publisher's main office in

561-507: Is based in Glenfield , Auckland , while Random House's Indian headquarters are located in New Delhi. Verlagsgruppe Random House was established after Bertelsmann's 1998 acquisition of Random House, grouping its German imprints (until then operating as Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann) under the new name; before April 2020, it has explicitly no legal part of the worldwide Penguin Random House company and

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612-845: Is being reintegrated with the main Penguin Random House company and now known as Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe. Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is Random House's Spanish-language division, targeting markets in Spain and Hispanic America . It is headquartered in Barcelona with locations in Argentina , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Venezuela , Uruguay , and the United States. From 2001 until November 2012, it

663-683: Is headquartered), Cologne , and Aßlar ), employs about 850 people, and publishes roughly 2,500 titles per year. Following the formation of Penguin Random House, a Penguin Verlag (with no legal connection to Penguin Books) was founded for the German market in 2015, as part of the Verlagsgruppe Random House. With Bertelsmann acquiring full ownership of Penguin Random House in April 2020, Verlagsgruppe Random House

714-781: Is located in Rushden in Northamptonshire. In 1989, Century Hutchinson was folded into the British Random House Group , briefly known as Random Century (1990–92), Century became an imprint of the group's Cornerstone Publishing. The Random House Group also operates branches in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (as a joint venture under the name Random House Struik ), and India as part of its overseas structure. In Australia offices are in Sydney and Melbourne . In New Zealand it

765-526: The Babar children's books. Random House also hired editors Harry Maule, Robert Linscott, and Saxe Commins, and they brought authors such as Sinclair Lewis and Robert Penn Warren with them. Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the American College Dictionary , which was followed in 1966 by its first unabridged dictionary . In October 1959, Random House went public at $ 11.25

816-477: The Anglophone world. Ulysses transformed Random House into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it acquired Smith and Haas, and Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Cerf and Klopfer in 1956. The acquisition of Smith and Haas added authors, including William Faulkner , Isak Dinesen , André Malraux , Robert Graves , and Jean de Brunhoff , who wrote

867-622: The CBS Films (now Viacom ) syndicated version of What's My Line? , along with Arlene Francis. Cerf was known as "Bennett Snerf" in a Sesame Street puppet parody of What's My Line? During his time on What's My Line? , Cerf received an honorary degree from the University of Puget Sound , and an honorary doctorate of letters in November 1965 from William Jewell College, in Liberty, Missouri. Cerf twice

918-489: The Canadian distributor of Random House Books. In 1986, Random House of Canada established its own indigenous Canadian publishing program that has become one of the most successful in Canadian history. Until January 2012, it used to hold a 25% stake in McClelland & Stewart , with the remaining 75% being controlled by the University of Toronto . It is now the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart. Takeda Random House Japan

969-488: The Crown Publishing Group. According to Madeline McIntosh, chief executive of Penguin Random House U.S., the two lines "will retain their distinct editorial identities." McIntosh explained some of the motivation behind the merger in a memo to employees, writing, "Book discovery and buying patterns continue to shift, resulting in growth opportunities in the nonfiction categories in which Crown in particular already has

1020-551: The Master's Crop", a compilation of Cerf's jokes, gags, stories, puns, and wit. Before 1951, Cerf was an occasional panelist on the NBC game show Who Said That? , on which celebrities tried to identify the speakers of quotations taken from recent news reports. In 1951, he began appearing weekly on What's My Line? , where he stayed for 16 years, until the show ended its run on CBS, in 1967. Until his death, Cerf continued to appear regularly on

1071-491: The Toronto publishing house Lester & Orpen Dennys . In 1996, Knopf Canada established a program called "The New Face of Fiction". Each year editors choose between 1 and 4 books and promote them through the campaign in order to bring some of Canada's most talented new authors to national and international attention. The Random House Canada imprint published works by Canadian and international authors starting in 1986. Seal Books

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1122-607: The United States is located in Penguin Random House Tower , which was constructed in 2009 at 1745 Broadway in Manhattan . The 684-foot (210 m) building spans the west side of the block between West 55th and West 56th Streets. The building's lobby showcases floor-to-ceiling glassed-in bookcases, which are filled with books published by the company and its subsidiaries. Prior to moving to Penguin Random House Tower,

1173-597: The assistant U.S. attorney assigned to assess the work's obscenity considered it a "literary masterpiece", he also felt it was obscene within the meaning of the law. The office then sued under the Tariff Act of 1930, which allowed a district attorney to bring an action against obscene literature. Cerf later presented the book in question to Columbia University . In 1944, Cerf published the first of his books of jokes and anecdotes, Try and Stop Me , with illustrations drawn by Carl Rose . A second book, Shake Well Before Using ,

1224-555: The business practices of the Famous Writers School , which Cerf founded. S. J. Perelman 's 1945 feuilleton "No Dearth of Mirth, Fill Out the Coupon", describes Perelman's fictionalized encounter with a jokebook publisher named Barnaby Chirp. Perelman's 1962 play The Beauty Part features the caricature Emmett Stagg of the book-publishing empire Charnel House, who was based on Cerf and played on Broadway by William LeMessena. He

1275-479: The children's audiobook publisher Listening Library, and sold its distribution division. In 2001, Phyllis E. Grann joined Random House as vice chairman. Grann was the CEO for Putnam and had grown that house from $ 10 million in revenue in 1976, to more than $ 200 million by 1993 and without increasing their title output. A publishing insider commented that then CEO Peter Olson was, "I think maybe instead of buying

1326-522: The company in Asia . Random House Home Video was a home video unit established by Random House in 1983 as Random House Video until 1988, the publisher of Dr. Seuss 's books. It was renamed in 1984. Random House's home video division was currently the distributor of some shows, such as Sesame Street (1986–1994), The Busy World of Richard Scarry (1993–2005), Arthur (1996–2006), and The Berenstain Bears ,

1377-1209: The company was headquartered at 457 Madison Avenue , 20 East 57th Street, and 201 East 50th Street, all in Manhattan. Random House, Inc. maintains several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. The Random House Group is one of the largest general book publishing companies in the United Kingdom ; it is based in London. The group comprises nine publishing companies: Cornerstone Publishing, Vintage Publishing , Ebury Publishing , Transworld Publishers , Penguin Random House Children's, Penguin Random House UK Audio, Penguin Michael Joseph, Penguin Press, and Penguin General. Its distribution business services its own imprints, as well as 40 other UK publishers through Grantham Book Services. The Random House archive and library

1428-461: The early 1950s, while maintaining a Manhattan residence, Bennett and Phyllis Cerf bought an estate at Mount Kisco, New York , which became his country home for the rest of his life. A Mount Kisco street named Cerf Lane, named after him, runs from Croton Avenue in Mount Kisco. Cerf died of natural causes in Mount Kisco, on August 27, 1971, aged 73. He had undergone surgery shortly before his death. He

1479-408: The film, One Day in 2011. The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. Random House is one of the largest English language publishers, and part of a group of publishers once known as the "Big 6" and now known as the "Big Five". In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc , over

1530-410: The original 1985–1987 animated television series (1989–2005, 2008–2009), and Golden Books (2001–2005). In 1994, they began distributing through Sony Wonder . Random House Home Video became dormant around 2005, but Sony Wonder still continued to use Random House Home Video's logo on Arthur VHS tapes and DVDs until 2006. Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971)

1581-531: The parent imprint. Over the following decades, a series of acquisitions made it into one of the largest publishers in the United States. In 2013, it was merged with Penguin Group to form Penguin Random House , which is owned by the Germany -based media conglomerate Bertelsmann . Penguin Random House uses its brand for Random House Publishing Group and Random House Children's Books, as well as several imprints. Random House

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1632-490: The possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group . On July 1, 2013, the merger was completed, and the new company emerged as Penguin Random House . When founded, Bertelsmann owned 53% of the joint venture while Pearson owned 47%. Pearson sold 22% of its shares to Bertelsmann in July 2017, and since April 2020, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann, making Random House division again wholly owned by German parent. At

1683-503: The rights to publish the book in the United States, and they arranged for a test case to challenge the implicit ban so as to publish the work without fear of prosecution. The publisher, therefore, made an arrangement to import the book and to have a copy seized by the United States Customs Service when it arrived. After seizure, the United States attorney took seven months before deciding whether to proceed further; although

1734-626: The same public school as publisher Richard Simon , author Herman Wouk , and playwright Howard Dietz . He spent his teenage years at 790 Riverside Drive, an apartment building in Washington Heights , which was home to two of his friends who became prominent as adults: Howard Dietz and Hearst newspapers financial editor Merryle Rukeyser . Cerf received his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College of Columbia University (1919) and his Litt.B. (1920) from its School of Journalism . After graduating from Columbia University , Cerf worked briefly as

1785-679: The sole owner of fellow Canadian publishing company McClelland & Stewart , having purchased the 75% it didn't already own from the University of Toronto . In 2013, Random House's parent company, Bertelsmann, entered into a joint venture with Pearson PLC (the parent company of the Penguin Group) to form a new trade publishing company called Penguin Random House. As part of this venture Random House of Canada and Penguin Canada were amalgamated as Penguin Random House Canada. Random House of Canada, as

1836-435: The time of the acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $ 3.9 billion in annual revenues. The move to consolidate was to provide leverage against Amazon.com and battle the shrinking state of bookstores . In October 2018, Penguin Random House merged two of its most known publishing lines, Random House and

1887-640: The two became lifelong friends. In 1933, Cerf won United States v. One Book Called Ulysses , a landmark court case against government censorship , and thereafter he was the first in the United States to publish James Joyce 's unabridged Ulysses . (Originally published in Paris by Sylvia Beach in 1922. One chapter from its previous serialization in Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap's Chicago-based literary magazine, The Little Review , had led to its being found "a work of obscenity" .) In 1932, Random House had

1938-458: Was a joint venture with Italian publisher Mondadori (Random House Mondadori). Upon Bertelsmann's acquisition of Mondadori's stake in the JV, the name was kept temporarily four months. Some Spanish-language authors published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial include Roberto Bolaño , Javier Marías , Mario Vargas Llosa and Guillermo Arriaga . Random House of Canada was established in 1944 as

1989-677: Was a juror at the Miss America pageant. Cerf was interviewed in 1967 and 1968 by Robin Hawkins, a freelancer working for the Oral History Research Office at Columbia University . Cerf said that he was "genuinely proud of" the awards that had been bestowed on him by The Yale Record and The Harvard Lampoon . In July 1970, Cerf was the subject of an exposé by Jessica Mitford , published in Atlantic Monthly , which denounced

2040-454: Was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House . Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns , for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his weekly television appearances for over 17 years on the panel game show What's My Line? Cerf was born on May 25, 1898, in Manhattan , New York City, to

2091-482: Was established in 1993. It takes its name from the New York–based publishing house, Vintage Books , which was formed in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Vintage Canada publishes paperback editions, choosing primarily from titles originally published by Knopf Canada and Random House Canada. They also publish new books and modern classics originally published elsewhere, as well as some "Vintage Originals". Speakers House Canada

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2142-434: Was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer , two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random", which suggested the name Random House. In 1934, they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce 's novel Ulysses in

2193-585: Was founded in 1977, stemming from a partnership between Bantam Books (an American-based company) and McClelland & Stewart . This imprint specializes in reprints of major fiction hardcover titles. However, Seal has always published original books; it is just not the imprint's main endeavor. In the 1980s, there was a Seal Books First Novel Award. Many Seal Books were originally published as Doubleday hardcovers. When Seal Books merged with Random House of Canada, they began publishing mass-market titles from Random House of Canada and Knopf Canada as well. Vintage Canada

2244-590: Was founded in May 2003 as a joint venture between Kodansha and Random House. In 2009, Random House discontinued the joint venture. Takeda Random House Japan filed for bankruptcy on December 14, 2012. In 2006, Random House invested in Random House Korea . In 2010, Random House divested their ownership. In April 2010, Random House Australia managing director, Margie Seale, was assigned the responsibilities of exploring and evaluating potential business opportunities for

2295-445: Was launched in 2006. Bond Street Books publishes international fiction and non-fiction. Doubleday Canada publishes Canadian and international fiction and non-fiction titles from both new and established writers. Knopf Canada was established in 1991 as an editorially independent Canadian branch of Alfred A. Knopf . The founding editor was Louise Dennys. Dennys was already the publisher of many major Canadian books, through her work at

2346-430: Was launched in 2008 as a joint business and marketing venture between Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart . It was meant to serve as a vehicle for showcasing authors who were also in-demand speakers. In October 2010, Random House of Canada introduced the "Conversation Starters" application for Apple 's iPhone and iPad . In February 2011, Random House of Canada announced a partnership with OverDrive ,

2397-545: Was named editorial director for Dial Press and editor-in-chief of Random House imprints reporting to Gina Centrello, the president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group. There were layoffs at Doubleday , now part of Knopf Publishing Group , and Dial Press , Bantam Dell . Spiegel & Grau was moved from Doubleday over to Random House. Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio; which released

2448-668: Was published in 1949. Then, he became a member of the Peabody Awards board of jurors, where he served from 1946 to 1967 and 1970–1971. He was chair juror of the Peabody Jurors Board from 1954 to the end of his first term in 1967, and published a weekly column, "The Cerf Board", in the Sunday supplement magazine This Week . Cerf was also inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa in 1967 at Florida Southern College . In 1959, Maco Magazine Corporation published what became known as "The Cream of

2499-445: Was similarly portrayed as publisher Bennett Blake on The Patty Duke Show in the 1964 episode "Auld Lang Syne". In 2006, Peter Bogdanovich portrayed Cerf in the film Infamous . Cerf married actress Sylvia Sidney on October 1, 1935; they divorced six months later, on April 9, 1936. On September 17, 1940, he married actress Phyllis Fraser , a cousin of Ginger Rogers , with whom he had two sons, Christopher and Jonathan. In

2550-517: Was survived by his wife and sons. Random House published his posthumous autobiography, At Random: The Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf , in 1977, which Phyllis Cerf and a former Random House Editor Albert Erskine put together from his interviews for Columbia's oral history program along with his diaries and scrapbooks. Bennett Cerf Drive, just outside the City of Westminster in Carroll County, Maryland,

2601-607: Was the beginning of their publishing business, which they later named Random House . The publishing company used as its logo a little house drawn by Cerf's friend and fellow Columbia alumnus Rockwell Kent . Cerf's talent in building and maintaining relationships brought contracts with such writers as William Faulkner , John O'Hara , Eugene O'Neill , James Michener , Truman Capote , Theodor Seuss Geisel , and others. He published Atlas Shrugged , written by Ayn Rand , though he vehemently disagreed with her philosophy of Objectivism . He admired her "sincerity" and "brillian[ce]", and

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