Rick Wolff, longtime editor and sports broadcaster, died April 10 following a brief battle with brain cancer. He was 71.
Though Wolf acquired books in a range of categories, he is best-known as an editor of business books. Among his credits is signing Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2000 while he was heading Warner Business at Warner Books. Before being signed by Wolff, Kiyosaki had self-published Rich Dad, which would go on to become one of the bestselling business books of all time.
Following his success at Warner, Wolff joined Hachette Book Group where he started HBG’s Business Plus imprint. As part of a companywide downsizing, Wolff was laid off in spring 2014, but was quickly hired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt where he launched a line of business books. At the time of his hiring, HMH said Wolff had edited more than 50 bestselling business books. “I have long wanted to expand our business publishing here at HMH, and Rick is the perfect person to lead that effort. His experience is unparalleled, and his track record speaks for itself," Bruce Nichols, senior v-p and president at HMH in 2014, told PW.
Among the books that Wolff published during his career were Jack Welch’s Jack: Straight from the Gut, Hank Paulson’s On the Brink, Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Leading from the Heart, Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness, Ted Turner’s Call Me Ted, and Dr. Robert Sutton’s The No Asshole Rule. In 2005, 11 years before Donald Trump became president, Wolff signed Timothy L. O'Brien’ s Trumpworld: The Art of Being the Donald, which Wolff promised would be an "eye-opening, jaw-dropping piece of journalism" based on interviews with friends and associates and also with the tycoon himself.
The son of the famous sports broadcaster Bob Wolff, Rick was also heard on the radio, most notably as the host of The Sports Edge, which started in 1998 on New York City’s WFAN and ran into 2023. Wolff also wrote or co-wrote 18 books.
Donations in Wolff’s memory can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
