Gina Centrello, head of the Random House Publishing Group (“Little Random”) since 2003, has retired. The news came in a memo from PRH CEO Madeline McIntosh, who told employees that, given the strong leadership team that Centrello has built, “we can take the time we need, in consultation with members of this executive team, to develop the plan for Gina’s succession. In the meantime, we will lean on Bill Takes, executive v-p, business strategy, to ensure everything continues to run smoothly and successfully on a day-to-day basis.”
After joining Pocket Books in 1984 as a copyeditor, Centrello was named head of the publisher in 1994. She moved to Random House in 1999 as president and publisher of Ballantine before being promoted to head of Random House where, despite numerous corporate restructurings, she had remained.
McIntosh said Centrello will serve as a strategic advisor to PRH’s U.S. board, and will continue working with Literacy Partners. McIntosh added in her memo to the staff that the publicity-shy Centrello has agreed to join her in her first Town Hall of the year.
The roster of critically acclaimed and bestselling authors RH has published under Centrello is a long one. In McIntosh’s memo, she pointed to Jennie Allen, Brené Brown, Kate Boo, Lee Child, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Glennon Doyle, Andrea Elliott, Diana Gabaldon, Ina Garten, Tieghan Gerard, Laura Hillenbrand, Cathy Park Hong, Jonathan Kellerman, Ibram X. Kendi, Tracy Kidder, Debbie Macomber, George R. R. Martin, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Meacham, Jodi Picoult, Yung Pueblo, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Salman Rushdie, George Saunders, Curtis Sittenfeld, Danielle Steel, Elizabeth Strout, and Tara Westover, as well as former president Barack and former first lady Michelle Obama and, most recently, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.
Beyond the publishing program Centrello built, McIntosh wrote that "the enduring hallmark of Gina’s tenure will be the impact she has had on us as people. I know I’m only one of many indebted to her for her mentorship; I’m grateful for every minute of the support she has provided me, her peers, her employees, and our authors."
In her own memo to employees, Centrello wrote it has been a “great honor and privilege to lead Random House, producing work that will endure, navigating challenging transitions, and watching our business grow.”
She said the decision to retire was a difficult one, but observed that, “over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my future, and when the right moment might be for me to transition to a new way of leading. I’ve come to believe that that moment is now. This decision is, of course, bittersweet. I have truly loved leading Random House, and publishing books that matter and inspire change, books that entertain and thrill, and books that help us to be better people. I have relished watching your growth, as well, and I am excited that a new generation of brilliant publishing leaders and managers—the best in the business, as far as I’m concerned—will continue to thrive and soar in the years to come.”
