The Sonny Shuffle

by Steven Zeitchik, PW NewsLine -- Publishers Weekly, 2/3/2005

Sonny Mehta is relinquishing his title of Knopf president and handing it to longtime business guru Tony Chirico, whom Mehta has now and in the past called his "trusted advisor." Mehta, to whom Chirico will still report, will retain the title of editor-in-chief and take on the added title of chairman.

Chirico started serving as business manager at Knopf in 1988 and has had a series of promotions since then, most recently to Knopf COO (in the COO-within-a-COO world of Random House Inc) in 2000. Insiders say the two have worked closely together on many areas where editorial and business overlap.

Despite the promotion of an executive with a business focus, the house says the move shouldn't be read as a significant change of priorities within Knopf. "Sonny is such an exalted figure that any small move is subject to dissection and scrutiny," says spokesperson Paul Bogaards. But a move like this is "not emblematic of [a] seismic shift," he said, adding, "I see the two working together for the foreseeable future."

Mehta will, however, focus more on editorial than he did weaing his previous hat, which was said to contain a heavy business component. (In a statement he offered quotes about working more with authors.) And the house says Chirico's role will now include more broad strategic issues. One insider says the announcement also makes sense for a different reason. "If anything were to happen to Sonny, or if he were to leave, now you have someone else there [as president]."