Laurence "Larry" Kirshbaum is the former chief of publishing for

Amazon Publishing Amazon Publishing (or simply APub) is Amazon's book publishing unit launched in 2009. It is composed of 15 imprints including AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, 47North, and Topple Books. Amazon publishes e-books ...

Biography

Born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1944 and raised in the

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

neighborhood.Chicago Tribune: "The Man Who`s Betting Millions On 'Gone With The Wind II' by John Blades
October 03, 1988 In 1966, Kirshbaum graduated with a B.A. from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

.Vanity Fair: "The Book on Publishing" BY Keith Gessen
October 2011 After school, he worked for

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

. In 1970, he co-wrote a book with Roger Rapoport about student protests, ''Is the Library Burning?'' In 1970, he accepted a job as a salesman for

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 the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

selling to drugstores, small groceries, and gift shops. In 1974, he went to work for

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Kinney National Company acquired the New York City-based Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publis ...

where he became a publisher in 1985, working with

Jack Welch John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. His long career at General Electric ( ...

and

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner ( ; born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film ...

on their memoirs. He then became

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Time Warner Book Group Hachette Book Group, Inc. (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagard� ...

. In 2005, he left Time Warner to found his own literary agency. In 2011, he went to work as the chief of publishing for

; which was striving to build its own publishing business. He signed numerous authors including actress and director

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, film director, and producer. She is best known for ...

and best-selling writer

Timothy Ferris Timothy Ferris (born August 29, 1944) is an American science writer and the best-selling author of twelve books, including ''The Science of Liberty'' (2010) and ''Coming of Age in the Milky Way'' (1988), for which he was awarded the American I ...

.Wall Street Journal: "Publishing Executive Larry Kirshbaum to Leave Amazon - Kirshbaum, Who Made Waves by Signing Big-Name Authors, to Leave Early Next Year" By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
October 25, 2013 In 2012, his efforts were crushed after bookseller

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

stated that it would not sell books published by Amazon in its stores. In October 2013, it was announced that he was leaving Amazon and will be replaced by Daphne Durham.

Personal life

He is married to the former Barbara Feder of

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in southeastern Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipali ...

; they have two children. In 2013, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman. Catherine Redlich, Kirshbaum's attorney, stated that the incident was a "consensual relationship from a decade ago which turned sour".

References

1944 births Living people 20th-century American Jews American publishing chief executives American businesspeople in the online media industry Amazon (company) people University of Michigan alumni 21st-century American Jews {{US-CEO-stub