Longtime Bertelsmann and Random House executive Richard Sarnoff will step down from his position as president of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments at the end of the month to join one of the country's largest private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Although he has not had an active role at RH in several years, Sarnoff played a key role in constructing the country’s largest trade house, having been one of the architects of Bertelsmann’s purchase of Random when he was CFO of Bantam Doubleday Dell. After the merger, Sarnoff spearheaded RH’s efforts in such areas as new media and acquisitions, interests that will line up with KKR which is heavily involved in the acquisitions field.
During his time with Random, Sarnoff served as chairman of the Association of American Publishers and became one of the main drivers of the Google Book Search Settlement as one of chief negotiators for the publishers, for which he was named PW’s Person of the Year in 2009.
Beginning in 2002, Sarnoff served two terms on the Bertelsmann Supervisory Board, during which time in established BDMI. With his departure, Bertelsmann CFO Thomas Rabe will assume direct leadership of BDMI. Among the companies where BDMI has investments are American Reading Company and RoyaltyShare.
