John Sargent is a very popular leader. He is approachable and down to earth, plainspoken.
Catching up with PW's Andrew Albanese
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On Thursday, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group announced that John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan, will leave the publisher and its parent, on January 1, 2021, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.
“The staff at Macmillan were pretty much shocked and blindsided by this news,” he says. “John is a very popular leader. He is approachable and down to earth, plainspoken.”
In the same announcement, Don Weisberg, president of Macmillan US Trade, was named to succeed Sargent as CEO of Macmillan Publishers, Albanese reports.
“Sargent took over as CEO [at Macmillan] in 2012, though he’s been with the company in leadership roles since 1996,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
“You can read into the release that this [move is] not based on John’s performance but about what happens next – it’s about the future. In the release, the board expresses regret, and they deeply thank John.”
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.
