NEW YORK, June 18 – Simon & Schuster announced today that it will publish Leave Something on the Table: And Other Surprising Lessons for Success in Business and in Life by Frank Bennack. Bennack is the executive vice chairman and former CEO of Hearst, an $11.4 billion leading global, diversified media, information and services company with more than 360 businesses around the world. In Leave Something on the Table, which debuts in October 2019, Bennack shares insider anecdotes and hard-won lessons of an American success story, incorporating his encounters with U.S. presidents, industry leaders, top editors, news influencers and broadcasters, among others. The book highlights the core principles he stuck to and the wisdom he gained through one of the most accomplished and illustrious careers in the history of media and business.

A self-starter, Bennack held his first job at 8, hosted his own television show at 17, and brought the energy of an entrepreneurial mindset to a venerable publishing firm. As chief executive of Hearst for more than 28 years beginning in 1979, Bennack helped solidify the company’s reputation as a leader in consumer media with the acquisition of more than two dozen television stations, major newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and the San Francisco Chronicle, and the launch of magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine and HGTV Magazine. He also led the $1 billion acquisition of over 100 titles, including iconic brands like ELLE and Road & Track.

Under his watch, Hearst marched toward diversification and global expansion with the company’s purchase of healthcare information leader MCG and acquisitions of business media assets including global ratings agency Fitch Group. Just as importantly, he drove Hearst’s expansion into television and cable networking, partnering with ABC, now the Walt Disney Company, to launch the cable networks A&E, HISTORY and Lifetime. One of his greatest achievements was when, in 1990, he negotiated a 20 percent stake in ESPN for $167 million. Market analysts have estimated the value of the network at roughly $30 billion.

“My journey is one built on institutional culture and character—building it, maintaining it, passing it on,” Bennack said. “I firmly believe there is one unchanging North Star. It isn’t what you know, and how hard you work, and how clever you are. It’s not even who you know. It’s how other people know you. It’s who you are. This book is about the importance of values in our work and personal lives—it’s about the value of values.”

“Frank Bennack has one of the most innovative minds in business and is always looking ahead, as exemplified by his leading Hearst’s early acquisition of a stake in ESPN and its construction of New York City’s first green office building,” Simon & Schuster Senior Editor Sean Manning said. “But with this book, he takes a rare and welcome glance backward, sharing the inspiring wisdom he’s gained over the course of his storied career. Bennack transformed a 1950s magazine and newspaper company into the highly successful 132-year-old startup that Hearst is today.”

Bennack served as Hearst’s CEO for more than 28 years. He directed the company through an unprecedented period of growth from when he began his first tenure as CEO in 1979 through June 2013 when he stepped down—increasing revenues 14 times and growing earnings more than 30 times, through investments, acquisitions and start-ups. Bennack is also chairman of the company’s Executive Committee, a director of Hearst and a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust established under the will of William Randolph Hearst. In addition, he sits on a number of corporate committees and the Hearst Foundations Boards, where he has served for more than 25 years. Bennack is currently a director of Ralph Lauren Corporation. He is chairman of Hearst Magazines UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst. Bennack is also a governor and former chairman of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and its Healthcare System, a managing director of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, chairman emeritus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio).

Bennack is represented by Robert B. Barnett of Williams & Connolly. Simon & Schuster acquired world rights and audio rights.

 

About Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital and audio formats. Its distinguished roster of authors includes many of the world’s most popular and widely recognized writers, and winners of the most prestigious literary honors and awards. It is home to numerous well-known imprints and divisions such as Simon & Schuster, Scribner, Atria Books, Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Touchstone, Adams Media, Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Simon & Schuster Audio and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, and proudly brings the works of its authors to readers in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.

About Hearst

Hearst is a leading global, diversified media, information and services company with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; global financial services leader Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; transportation assets including CAMP Systems International, a major provider of software-as-a-service solutions for managing maintenance of jets and helicopters; 34 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union (Albany, NY), more than 300 magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Men’s Health and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital entertainment companies such as Complex Networks. Follow us on Twitter @Hearst. To learn more about Hearst, visit our 2018 Annual Review, “What Connects Us.”

Contact:
Amanda Lang, Simon & Schuster
212-698-7538
Amanda.Lang@simonandschuster.com