Macmillan Inc.
| Company type | Private (formerly) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Founder | George Edward Brett |
| Defunct | 1994 |
| Fate | Acquired by Simon & Schuster/Paramount Communications |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Books, Educational materials, Reference works |
Macmillan Inc.—also recognized as Macmillan US and formerly known as The Macmillan Company—originated as the American branch of the British publisher Macmillan Publishers. Over time, these two organizations parted ways and were absorbed by separate corporations. The heritage of the initial U.S. branch persists through entities such as McGraw-Hill Education's Macmillan/McGraw-Hill educational materials, Gale's Macmillan Reference USA, and trade publishing lines including Scribner, Free Press, and Atheneum, which were transferred under Paramount Communications' ownership to Simon & Schuster.
In 1999, the German publishing conglomerate Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group acquired the British Macmillan and subsequently secured U.S. rights to the Macmillan brand in 2001, reintroducing its American operations under the Macmillan name in 2007.
Brett family
The establishment of Macmillan’s first U.S. office dates back to 1869, credited to George Edward Brett. By 1896, the Brett family—specifically George Platt Brett Sr. and George Platt Brett Jr.—purchased the American segment from Macmillan, creating an independent firm known as Macmillan US. Although Macmillan Publishers held a share until 1951, the American branch operated autonomously thereafter. Despite this division, George Brett Jr. maintained a strong connection with Harold Macmillan, the British founder.
In correspondence from 1947, George P. Brett Jr. emphasized the family's dedication to expanding their American publishing enterprise—from an initial valuation of $50,000 under his grandfather's leadership to approximately $9 million during his father's period, and reaching near $12 million in his own tenure.
Under the Brett family's stewardship, Macmillan published notable U.S. authors such as Winston Churchill, Margaret Mitchell (author of Gone with the Wind), and Jack London (White Fang, Call of the Wild). Their nearly century-long management left a lasting imprint on American publishing history.
After divesting its interest in Macmillan US in 1951, Macmillan Publishers re-entered the U.S. market by founding St. Martin's Press in 1952.
Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision
In 1950, despite opposition from prominent astronomers, Macmillan US released Imanuel Velikovsky's controversial work Worlds in Collision. Facing industry backlash and boycotts, the publication rights were eventually transferred to Doubleday.
Mergers and end
The year 1961 marked a merger between Macmillan US and Crowell Collier Publishing Company, forming a major media corporation that adopted the name Macmillan Inc. in 1973.
In 1979, Thomas Mellon Evans acquired a controlling interest in Macmillan Inc., which subsequently attracted takeover attempts from Mattel and ABC; however, ABC’s bid was unsuccessful. Following this period, Macmillan Inc. divested several non-core businesses: selling C.G. Conn (a musical instrument manufacturer) in 1980; followed by Hagstrom Map, Brentano's bookstore chain, and Alco‐Gravure printing company in 1981.
Macmillan broadened its publishing holdings through multiple acquisitions: Bradbury Press (children’s books) in 1981; Scribner Book Companies, Sieber & McIntyre, Dellen Publishing, and Pennwell Books in 1984. The company further expanded by purchasing ITT’s publishing divisions—Sams Publishing, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Michie Company, Intertec Publishing Group, Marquis Who's Who, and G.K. Hall—in 1985; Bobbs-Merrill was later closed and assimilated into Macmillan operations. In 1986, music publisher G. Schirmer was sold off while educational publishers Laidlaw (1987) and Jossey-Bass (1988) were added.
In 1989, British media magnate Robert Maxwell’s Maxwell Communication Corporation acquired control of Macmillan Inc. That same year saw Macmillan purchase Prentice Hall Information from Simon & Schuster while divesting Intertec Publishing Group, Macmillan Book Clubs, and Gryphon Editions to K-III Communications. Maxwell Macmillan Professional and Business Reference Publishing was sold to Thomson Professional Publishing; directories such as Marquis Who's Who went to Reed Publishing; Michie was sold to Mead; additional assets including Gump's department store, Katharine Gibbs trade school, and part of Berlitz language schools were also offloaded.
Following Maxwell’s death in 1991, financial difficulties led Macmillan into bankruptcy proceedings. Paramount Communications acquired Macmillan Computer Publishing; Standard Rate & Data Service was sold to OAG; Collier's Encyclopedia assets transferred to Planeta Group and DeAgostini. Remaining holdings were purchased by Simon & Schuster/Paramount Communications for $552.8 million in 1994 as part of Viacom’s acquisition of Paramount Communications. Subsequently, adult trade imprints such as Macmillan and Atheneum were merged into Scribner while Macmillan Publishing USA became Simon & Schuster’s reference division.
Pearson PLC obtained rights to the Macmillan name in the United States in 1998 after acquiring Simon & Schuster’s educational and professional units. Pearson combined these with Addison Wesley Longman to create Pearson Education—including Macmillan Computer Publishing—and later shuttered several children’s reference imprints before selling off Macmillan Reference USA (which included Scribner Reference and G.K. Hall) to Thomson Gale and most of Macmillan General Reference (excluding Complete Idiot’s Guides) to IDG Books in 1999.
Macmillan’s educational publishing divisions—Glencoe, Barnell Loft, Benziger—formed a joint venture with McGraw-Hill in 1989; following Maxwell’s death in 1993, McGraw-Hill assumed full ownership of this venture.
Holtzbrinck's Acquisition of the Macmillan Brand in the United States
In 2001, Holtzbrinck secured the majority of rights to the Macmillan brand from Pearson, though the related enterprises at that time were not included in the deal. By 2007, Holtzbrinck had renamed its U.S. operations under the Macmillan banner.
By 2010, Holtzbrinck's Macmillan division in America encompassed prominent publishing imprints such as Farrar Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt & Company, W.H. Freeman and Worth Publishers, Palgrave Macmillan, Bedford/St. Martin's, Picador, Roaring Brook Press, St. Martin's Press, Tor Books, and Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group.
Distinguished Publishers
See also
Further reading
- James, Elizabeth (2002) Macmillan: a Publishing Tradition. Basingstoke: Palgrave