‘Publishers Weekly’ Honors Nihar Malaviya
The U.S. trade magazine has named the Penguin Random House CEO “PW’s 2025 Person of the Year.”
“Publishers Weekly,” the leading trade magazine of the U.S. book industry, has named Nihar Malaviya “PW’s 2025 Person of the Year.” As the magazine states in its announcement, the CEO of Penguin Random House “has gone all in on protecting the First Amendment and the freedom to read” alongside the entire publishing group. It is the first time in the 20 years that “Publishers Weekly” has selected a Person of the Year that a CEO of Penguin Random House – or previously Random House – has received this prestigious title.
In an extensive article, “Publishers Weekly” outlines the various measures through which Penguin Random House, under Malaviya’s leadership, has championed the freedom to read in the United States in recent years. These efforts range from initiatives aimed at raising public awareness of the issue to legal action, including lawsuits against several book-ban laws in individual U.S. states.
It also notes that the publishing group supports those states taking steps to strengthen the right to read through their own legislation. According to “Publishers Weekly,” 25 states introduced freedom-to-read legislation this year alone, with Penguin Random House directly involved in 12 of these efforts. Seven have already passed. As Malaviya explains to the magazine, such measures – which also require significant investment – would not have been possible without the explicit support of PRH’s parent company Bertelsmann.
For Malaviya, it is clear that the combined efforts of Penguin Random House, backed by Bertelsmann and further partners, have helped slow some of the early momentum of the book-ban movement. “There is a lot more work to be done, but I think we are making meaningful progress,” says Malaviya.
