Who

Rosenthal is the publisher of Simon & Schuster, the book publishing company owned by Viacom.

Backstory

The son of a former assistant chief medical examiner of New York City, Rosenthal started his working life in politics, serving as an aide to former New York State Assembly leader Al Blumenthal. Rosenthal soon transitioned to print media; after working at New York and Rolling Stone, he became an editor at Random House imprint Villard, where he acquired and edited titles by the likes of Bob Dylan, Jonathan Winters, Hunter S. Thompson, Don Imus, and James Carville, and really hit the big time with the publication of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. In 1997, when Rosenthal was passed over for the editor-in-chief job at Random House (which went to Ann Godoff instead), he made the jump to Simon & Schuster. His inner circle includes Alice Mayhew, Simon & Schuster's editorial director, and Priscilla Painton, the former deputy managing editor of Time who now serves as editor-in-chief of S&S's adult trade imprint.

Of note

Many of Rosenthal's books have had a political bent (although he is personally credited with persuading Bob Dylan to write his memoirs—Dylan's Chronicles, Volume 1 was published in October 2004). Simon and Schuster was responsible for the 2003 publication of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History, for which the former First Lady got an $8 million advance, as well as the 2006 release of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's bestselling tome State of Denial. S&S inked a deal to acquire outed CIA agent Valerie Plame's memoir for an estimated $2.5 million; the result was 2007's poorly-selling Fair Game. Given the partisan nature of many S&S titles, the house often finds itself in the midst of political maelstroms. In late 2006, for example, Rosenthal weathered a burst of controversy after Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid prompted accusations of anti-Semitism.

For the record

Rosenthal nonsensically called New York Times columnist (and upcoming S&S author) David Carr "one of the finest non-fiction journalists of our time"—and that's not the only time the publisher's foot has hovered dangerously close to his mouth. Regarding the success of author Lauren Weisberger, he quipped to the New York Times, "It's a fairy tale come true, ain't it? And she's got great legs. What more can you ask for?"

Personal

Rosenthal and his wife, Christine, live in Brooklyn Heights .