Michael Pietsch

Michael Pietsch is chief executive officer of Hachette Book Group (HBG), which comprises eight publishing groups: Grand Central Publishing; Hachette Audio; Hachette Nashville; Little, Brown and Company; Little Brown Books for Young Readers; Orbit; Perseus Books; and Workman Publishing. HBG is the U.S. division of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest publisher of trade and educational books. As CEO, Pietsch has overseen the acquisitions of Workman Publishing, Perseus Books, Black Dog & Leventhal, and Hyperion Books during a period of growth and transformation for HBG. Earlier in his 40-year publishing career, as publisher at Little, Brown and Company and in editorial positions at Crown and Scribner, Pietsch edited or published books by acclaimed writers including Michael Connelly, Malcolm Gladwell, Stephenie Meyer, Walter Mosley, James Patterson, Keith Richards, J.K. Rowling, Stacy Schiff, David Sedaris, Donna Tartt, David Foster Wallace, Malala Yousafzai, and a posthumous memoir by Ernest Hemingway. He continues to edit select books, and his passion for the close partnership between writers and publishers is the foundation of his approach as CEO. Pietsch is a graduate of Harvard College, and serves on the boards of Poets & Writers and the Association of American Publishers. He joined PEN America’s Board in 2014, and chairs PEN’s Nominations and Governance Committee.