The View From the Top
Turning the company around
However, the financial picture was not always so bright for HarperCollins. Right before News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch hired Friedman, HarperCollins went through large layoffs and cancellations of book contracts.
So what contributed to this major turnaround?
“Everything,” says Friedman. “I mean the major contributors to the growth [were] every single imprint within the company and around the world. We had to look at every part of the company and … say, ‘This is what you are doing now, and this is what you can do,’” she says. “When I came here, it was clear to me that HarperCollins had a tremendous backlist that had not been explored. The people here were paralyzed, they didn’t know if they would be fired or if they could buy books or what.”