John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE:JW.A) CEO Stephen Smith is scheduled to retire on June 1. The reason given for the retirement is an undisclosed medical condition, Mr. Smith, however, has been suffering from urological cancer for some time now. The Board of Directors has appointed the COO, Mark Allin, as Smith’s successor as both the CEO and President. Mr. Allin has been the interim CEO since February.
Mr. Smith joined the company in 1992 and became the CEO in 2011. During his time in the company, the company transitioned from print publishing to a digital content publisher. According to Peter Wiley, the chairman of Johan Wiley, Mr. Smith was instrumental in building up international operations in Asia Pacific region
Mr. Wiley further added that Smith had left a rich legacy. He further added that as a CEO, Mr. Smith managed the integration of the largest acquisition by John Wiley in 2007. Mr. Smith was also credited with divesting consumer publishing assets and leading the company to many accomplishments.
Mr. Wiley also stated that Mr. Allin had been instrumental in reorganization and restructuring of the business and reallocation of resources to high growth areas. Wiley further stated that Allin as a CEO divested the company’s publishing assets, acquired a number of very important solutions business in education and professional learning and restrained the cost basis of the business.
Mr.Allin joined John Wiley & Sons with the acquisition of Capstone Publishing in 2000. He served as the MD of Wiley Asia before being promoted to Executive VP, Professional Development in 2010 and has been appointed the COO in 2015.
According to Mr. Smith, the company has made significant progress in the transformation to being a knowledge company specializing in learning solutions. The company now generates 60% of its revenue from digital content compared to 37% in 2010.
