company bertelsmann 53 % pearson plc 47 % founded 2013 ; 3 years ago 2013 country of origin united states headquarters location new york city new york distribution worldwide key people markus dohle ceo milena alberti cfo madeline mcintosh president penguin publishing group publication types books number of employees 10 000 as of july 1 2013 official website penguinrandomhouse.com penguin random house prh is a company formed by the merger of book publishers random house owned by bertelsmann and penguin group owned by pearson plc . 1 2 penguin random house markets itself as the world s first truly global trade book publisher . it was formed on july 1 2013 upon the completion of an agreement between german media conglomerate bertelsmann and british publishing company pearson to merge their respective trade publishing companies random house and penguin group with the parent companies owning 53 % and 47 % respectively . penguin random house comprises the adult and children s fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses of penguin and random house in the u.s. u.k. canada australia new zealand and india ; penguin s trade publishing activity in asia and south africa ; dorling kindersley worldwide ; and random house s companies in spain mexico argentina uruguay colombia and chile . penguin random house employs more than 10 000 people globally across five continents . it comprises almost 250 editorially and creatively independent imprints and publishing houses that collectively publish more than 15 000 new titles annually . its publishing lists include more than 70 nobel prize laureates and hundreds of the world s most widely read authors . 3 contents 1 history 2 divisions and imprints 2.1 dk 2.2 crown publishing group 2.3 knopf doubleday publishing group 2.4 penguin publishing group 2.5 penguin young readers group 2.6 random house publishing group 2.7 random house children s books 2.8 rh digital publishing group 2.9 rh international 3 book country 4 notes and references 5 external links history edit penguin random house was formed on july 1 2013 upon the completion of an agreement between bertelsmann and pearson to merge their respective trade publishing companies random house and penguin group . the creation of the company has been referred to as the publishing industry s response to the increasing dominance of amazon.com in the book market . 4 prh relaunched book country penguin s languishing online unit in july 2013 . 5 in september 2014 random house studio signed a first look production deal with universal pictures under which random house would be producer on the projects developed and filmed based on penguin random house books . this buttresses the existing universal subsidiary focus features deal with random house films . 6 having spearhead the creative on prh children s puffin rock animation richard haines to head up phr children s tv development strategy with the assistance of licensing publishing and tv development executive emily campan . haines would report to prh children s managing director francesca dow . 7 in november 2015 pearson announced that it would rebrand and completely focus on its education division . pearson will likely sell its share in penguin random house though pearson ceo john fallon estimates that the company will wait until at least 2017 . 8 divisions and imprints edit dk edit dk dorling kindersley was founded in london in 1974 and is a leading reference publisher focusing on highly visual non fiction for adults and children . imprints under dk include alpha prima games and rough guides . alpha books produces the complete idiot s guides prima games publishes video game strategy guides and rough guides publishes travel guides . as of 2015 dk also has a number of official publishing relationships with angry birds lego marvel and star wars . 9 crown publishing group edit imprints under crown publishing group include amphoto books broadway books clarkson potter convergent crown crown archetype crown business crown forum harmony books hogarth image catholic books multnomah books pam krauss books ten speed press three rivers press tim duggan books waterbrook multonomah and watson guptill . crown publishing was originally founded in 1933 as the outlet book company and became the nation s leading remainder house but is now a publisher of fiction and narrative non fiction . 10 amphoto books is a publisher of photography books . broadway books was founded in 1996 as part of bantam doubleday dell and is the now the paperback imprint of crown . clarkson potter is a lifestyle publisher and includes cookbooks illustrated gift books and journals . crown archetype is a hardcover publisher of pop culture titles three rivers is its trade paperback imprint while crown business publishes business and crown forum publishes political discourse . harmony books focuses on self help titles . hogarth is a partnership between crown in the u.s. and windus in the uk and the imprin focuses on new generation literary talent . convergent image catholic books doubleday religion multnomah books and waterbrook multnomah and focus their list on christian voices . pam krauss books was founded in 1915 to focus on culinary food and healthy sustainable lifestyles . ten speed press which joined crown in 2009 is a west coast publisher of nonfiction and gift titles . tim duggan books was founded in 2014 to and focuses on storytelling across genres . watson guptill was founded in 1937 but now as part of ten speed press i publishes illustrated art books . 11 knopf doubleday publishing group edit imprints under knopf doubleday publishing group include alfred a. knopf doubleday pantheon schocken vintage books anchor books vintage espa ol black lizard nan a. talese and everyman s library . 12 alfred a. knopf was founded over one hundred years ago in 1915 by alfred a. knopf sr. and blanche knopf and is known as a publisher of distinguished hardcover fiction and nonfiction . alfred a. knopf has won many awards over the years including pulitzers nobel and national book awards . doubleday was founded in 1897 and is known as a publisher of commercial literary and serious nonfiction . pantheon was founded in 1941 by kurt wolff who had emigrated from germany during wwii . pantheon is known for publishing world class literature . schocken books was founded in germany and became a part of random house in 1945 and is dedicated to publishing judaica . vintage books is a trade paperback publisher that was founded by alfred a. knopf in 1954 . anchor books is known as the oldest trade paperback publishers and was formed to make inexpensive editions of modern classics . anchor books now publishes history science women s studies sociology and fiction . vintage espa ol was founded in 1994 by alfred a. knopf and is a spanish language publisher in the united states . vintage crime black lizard was acquired by random house in 1990 and is a publisher of crime fiction . nan a. talese is a literary imprint focused on quality publishing and was formed in 1990 to house authors published by editor nan a. talese . 13 penguin publishing group edit there are many imprints under penguin publishing group including avery berkley new american library blue rider press current daw dutton putnam pamela dorman books viking penguin books . penguin classics penguin press perigee plume portfolio penguin riverhead sentinel tarcher and viking . founded in 1976 avery focuses on nonfiction and lifestyle books . the berkley publishing group including new american library publish a wide variety of fiction and non fiction and there are several imprints under berkley including jove signet ace roc sensation and caliber . blue rider press was launched in 2011 by david rosenthal . daw focuses on science fiction and fantasy . dutton is a small boutique fiction and non fiction publisher publishing only about forty books a year . g.p. putnam s sons has been publishing since 1838 and is known for annually publishing many new york times bestsellers . pamela dorman books established in 2010 is a boutique publisher of vp pamela dorman . penguin was established in the 1930s as a publishing house releasing mass market paperbacks . out of penguin grew penguin books penguin classics and most recently penguin press . perigee was originally the trade paperback imprint for g.p. putnam s sons but now publishes a range of prescriptive non fiction self help and how to books . plume is a trade paperback imprint with a focus on multi cultural and lbgt publishing . portfolio was founded in 2001 as a business imprint . riverhead books was founded in 1994 and focuses on literary fiction and quality non fiction . tarcher penguin focuses on books that teach readers how to learn create and grow . viking press was founded in 1925 and publishes both fiction and non fiction titles . 14 penguin young readers group edit penguin young readers group is a division devoted to books for young readers and young adults . imprints under penguin young readers group include dial books for young readers firebird frederick warne g.p. putnam s sons books for young readers grosset & dunlap kathy dawson books nancy paulsen books philomel price stern sloan pss puffin books razorbill speak and viking . dial book for young readers publishes about 70 hardcover titles a year for children of all ages . firebird is a science fiction and fastasy imprint focusing on young adults . founded in 1865 frederick warne now develops brands based on classic children s literature such as peter rabbit . g.p. putnam s sons books for young readers publishes picture books . grosset & dunlap publishes books for children 0 12 focusing on original paperback series leveled readers nonfiction brands and licenses . kathy dawson books launched by publisher kathy dawson was launched in 2014 to publish hardcover middle grade and ya fiction . nancy paulsen books launched by publisher nancy paulsen launched in 2011 and publishes picture books . philomel books publishes books from around the globe . price stern sloan most famous for publishing mad libs also publishes books in a variety of formats including board doodle and activity books . puffin books was founded in 1941 to publish quality paperback books for children but now publishes many different formats for young readers . razorbill focuses on middle grade and young adult books . speak was launched in 2002 by puffin books to focus on classic and cutting edge fiction for young adults . viking children s books also publishes books for young readers and is known for having a rich backlist which includes newbery and caldecott medal winners . 14 random house publishing group edit imprints under penguin random house publishing group include ballantine books bantam books delacorte press del rey books del rey lucasbooks the dial press modern library random house and spiegel & grau . digital imprints include alibi flirt hydra and loveswept . ballantine books was established in 1952 and publish both fiction and nonfiction hardcover and paperback titles . bantam book was originally a publisher of mass market reprints but now publishes fiction and nonfiction in all formats . delacort press founded in 1921 began as a publisher of pulp magazines detective stories and movie articles but now publishes original fiction in all formats . del rey began as an imprint of ballantine books focusing on science fiction and fantasy titles . the dial press is a literary publisher . the modern library founded by boni and liveright publishes american and international classics . the original random house was founded in 1927 by bennett cerf and donald klopfer and publishes fiction . spiegel & grau is an editorial house that promotes new authors and new voices . alibi flirt hydra and loveswept publish e originals in genre fiction . 15 random house children s books edit imprints under random house children s books include alfred a. knopf books for young readers delacorte press random house books for young