Board of Directors

Richard Sarnoff
photo credit: KKR

Richard Sarnoff, Chairman of the Simon & Schuster Board of Directors, brings a wealth of experience in publishing, media, and education. His illustrious career includes serving as a senior executive and Supervisory Board member at Bertelsmann, where he held leadership roles both at Random House and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. In addition, Sarnoff served as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers during a key time in the evolution of the publishing industry as it adapted to the growth of eBooks and digital audiobooks. He currently serves as Chairman of Media within KKR’s Americas Private Equity business and in addition to the Simon & Schuster Board currently serves on the Boards of OverDrive, Teaching Strategies, Chegg, AST SpaceMobile, Lightcast, and numerous not-for-profit organizations.


Jonathan Karp
photo credit: Simon & Schuster

Jonathan Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, leads the company’s numerous publishing groups as well as its international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. Karp first joined Simon & Schuster in June 2010 as publisher of the company’s flagship imprint, and was named President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing in 2018. Prior to joining Simon & Schuster, Karp was Publisher and Editor in Chief of Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, which he founded in 2005, following his tenure as Editor in Chief of Random House, where he began his publishing career. Karp serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Publishers and the Advisory Board of NYU’s Center for Publishing and Applied Literary Arts.


Ted Oberwager
photo credit: KKR

Ted Oberwager leads the Gaming, Entertainment, Media & Sports verticals within KKR’s Americas Private Equity platform. At KKR, Oberwager has been involved with investments in AppLovin, Epic Games, FanDuel Group, Jio Platforms, Next Issue Media, OverDrive, PlayOn! Sports, RBmedia, Sealy Corporation, Simon & Schuster, Skydance Media, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Weld North Holdings, as well as a variety of activities for KKR Credit including the establishment of the firm’s entertainment IP strategy. In addition to serving on the Board of Simon & Schuster, Mr. Oberwager currently serves on the Boards of AppLovin, OverDrive, PlayOn! Sports, and Skydance Media. Prior to joining KKR, he was with Merrill Lynch global private equity where he was involved in a broad range of private equity transactions.


Chresten Knaff
photo credit: KKR

Chresten Knaff is a member of the Software and Media investment teams within KKR’s Americas Private Equity platform. At KKR, Knaff has been involved with investments in apexanalytix, ASG Technologies, BMC Software, Box, Calabrio, Epicor, Jitterbit, Körber Supply Chain Software, Lyft, Mitchell International, OverDrive, RBmedia, Sungard Data Systems, Teaching Strategies, and TherapyBrands. In addition to serving on the Board of Simon & Schuster, Mr. Knaff currently serves on the Boards of apexanalytix, TherapyBrands, and OverDrive. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Knaff was with The Blackstone Group, where he was a member of the technology mergers & acquisitions practice.


Madeline Macintosh
photo credit: Maria Spann

Madeline McIntosh has had a distinguished career in book publishing, having held various leadership positions in the industry. McIntosh most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Penguin Random House U.S., during which time she pioneered the adoption of new technologies and use of data and analytics to capture growth opportunities for one of the world’s leading publishing houses. Her expertise in navigating the complexities of the publishing industry and her acumen in strategic development and market expansion will be valuable to Simon & Schuster’s future growth. McIntosh currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for Poets & Writers.  


V Pappas
photo credit: Hugh Stewart

V Pappas most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of TikTok, having previously held roles including Global Interim Head and General Manager for North America, Australia, and New Zealand. During Pappas’s five-year tenure with TikTok, they oversaw the growth of the platform from a few million of users to over 1 billion users in more than 170 countries, including during the emergence of the #BookTok phenomenon. Earlier, Pappas served as the Global Head of Creative Insights at YouTube, leading company-wide strategic growth initiatives at the intersection of content and product. They played a key role in transforming content creation into a career through the development of YouTube’s Creator Playbook, the definitive guide to audience development and developed the first-ever automated, personalized insights serving tens of millions of creators and media partners worldwide. They currently serve on the Board of Trustees for The Paley Center for Media.


Kareem Daniel
photo credit: Disney

Kareem Daniel has extensive global expertise leading strategy, storytelling, and commercialization over an 18-year tenure at The Walt Disney Company. He most recently served as Chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution overseeing the organization that delivers Disney’s storytelling to fans around the world. In this role, Daniel was responsible for the growth and profitability of Disney’s portfolio of media businesses globally, including filmed entertainment, television networks, sports, advertising, and streaming platforms. Earlier, Daniel served as President of Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, where he led product development, licensing, eCommerce, video games, and Disney Publishing Worldwide, one of the world’s largest publishers of children’s books and magazines. Daniel currently serves on the Board of McDonald’s.

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