Richard Sarnoff

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Biographical Information

"Mr. Richard Sarnoff is a Senior Advisor at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR). Mr. Sarnoff works closely with the KKR team to identify and pursue new investments, particularly in the media sector, while also supporting existing portfolio companies. Mr. Sarnoff is also a Senior Advisor and Director at Weld North LLC. In addition, he serves as the Executive Vice President of Random House, Inc. Mr. Sarnoff was an Advisor at Greycroft Partners LLC. Previously, he was the President at Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI). As President of BDMI, Mr. Sarnoff oversaw the company's international investment activities in digital media. In recent years, he has established and led Bertelsmann's digital media investing arm, with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, and built an active portfolio of more than a dozen companies. Mr. Sarnoff plays a key role in Bertelsmann AG's strategic and corporate development activities in the United States as well as in Asia. He served as a Member of Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann AG. He was the Co-Chairman of Bertelsmann Inc. In 2002, Mr. Sarnoff became the first-ever United States executive to Chair the Bertelsmann Management Representative Committee and to serve on the Supervisory Board of Bertelsmann AG for two terms. He held various management positions at Random House, becoming Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer after its merger with Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1998. A longstanding senior executive in Bertelsmann's United States book publishing operations, Mr. Sarnoff was an architect of the Random House acquisition in 1998, and subsequently served as its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In the ensuing years, he was responsible for Random House's New Media and Corporate Development activities, and created and oversaw Random House Ventures. Mr. Sarnoff served as the President at Random House Ventures, LLC since March 2000. Prior to 1998, he served at Bantam Doubleday Dell in various management positions including that of the Senior Vice President of Diversified Publishing and New Media, Vice President of Strategic Planning, Director of Marketing for the Bantam Publishing Division, and Director of Planning for the Sales and Marketing Division. Mr. Sarnoff is a Member of Executive Council at Golub Capital. He serves as a Director of Activision, RoyaltyShare, Inc., Ebrary, Inc., Xlibris, Inc., Oak Hill Securities Fund II, Classic Media, Inc., and Emotive Communications, Inc. Mr. Sarnoff is a Member of Board of Directors of BMG Rights Management and Activision Blizzard, Inc. He serves on the Board of Directors of portfolio companies including Vocel, American Reading Company, The Princeton Review, Xlibris and UITV. Mr. Sarnoff served as a Director and Member of Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Activision, Inc. Mr. Sarnoff was a Director and Member of Nominating Committee of the Princeton Review Inc. since 1998 and was an Independent Director, Member of Audit Committee, and Member of Nominating and Governance Committee of Audible Inc. since March 2001. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the American Association of Publishers, and in this role, Mr. Sarnoff led in the negotiations with Google for the groundbreaking settlement of the Google Books lawsuit. He served as Director of RoyaltyShare, Inc. from October 2010 to September 28, 2011. He served as a Director of Amdocs, Inc. from March 01, 2010 to April 28, 2011. He also serves as a Director of not-for-profit organizations including the Center for Communication, Princeton University Press, and the Bronx Lab School. Mr. Sarnoff received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Art History from Princeton University."

Affiliations

• Trustees Advisory Council, OneVoice