Hans Gieskes, who took over as president and CEO of Houghton Mifflin a little over one year ago, resigned last week. Sylvia Metayer has been named HM's interim CEO until a permanent replacement for Gieskes can be found. Metayer joined HM in 2001 and is executive v-p and chief operating officer.
Prior to joining HM, Gieskes held positions with Monster.com and Lexis-Nexis. HM's then parent company, Vivendi, was looking for an executive to move the publisher more quickly into electronic publishing. HM's new owners, the Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee investment groups, are said to be looking for someone with more of a background in educational publishing: Gieskes's lack of experience in that area had been criticized by some HM executives at the time of his appointment. An HM spokesperson had no comment on Gieskes resignation, but a source said that the change in ownership "brings different issues" to the fore. The top priority for a new CEO will be to build a larger publishing company that can eventually be taken public or sold.
Gieskes's tenure was highlighted by Vivendi's divestiture of HM, and Gieskes received a $600,000 bonus for his work on the sale.
