Forbes’ Gets Ingram Wrong

-- Publishers Weekly, 9/24/2007 7:33:00 AM

Ingram issued a release late Friday to explain that a piece in the Forbes 400 about the company’s recent financial performance was incorrect. According to Forbes, sales in the Ingram book division were “down 48% last year.” In a statement, Ingram Book Company chairman John Ingram said the Forbes piece “could not be further from the truth.”

He said that sales in the book division rose modestly in 2006 and are up significantly in 2007. John Ingram said Forbes 400 editor Matt Miller had acknowledged that the magazine had made a mistake; the information was taken down from the Forbes Web site, and a correction will appear in the next Forbes issue. “Not only is our core book wholesaling business steady, but our Lightning Source business continues to grow rapidly, and our Ingram Digital opportunities are extremely exciting,” John Ingram said.