In a memo to employees marking the first anniversary of the Random House-Bantam Doubleday Dell merger, company chairman and CEO Peter Olson and Erik Engstrom, president and COO, thanked the staff for generating "companywide operating results beyond even our most optimistic expectations." The memo noted that during the last 52 weeks, Random has had 157 New York Times bestsellers, with 22 reaching the number-one slot, and that 32 books, including eight hardcovers, have had total print runs that topped one million copies.
As for the future, the memo stated: "One of our most enjoyable challenges will be continuing to channel the results of our first-year success back into such long-term investments for our future as state-of-the-art systems applications and desktop computer upgrades, the expansion and redesign of the Westminster distribution center, our postmillennium new home, and above all, author development."
