David Steinberger

Steinberger was born in New York. He graduated from Columbia University's School of Engineering and earned an MBA from the Wharton School.[7]

Steinberger's career began in New York City government where he rose to become Deputy Transportation Commissioner for Bridges.[4] According to the New York Times, Steinberger's willingness to speak openly about public safety concerns contributed to his departure from the position in 1991.[8] After City Government, Steinberger joined management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.[4]

In 1996 Steinberger left Booz Allen Hamilton to join the publishing industry as President of the Adult Trade Group at HarperCollins Publishers, a Division of NewsCorp.[4][5] Steinberger became CEO of Perseus Books Group in 2004.[3] After Steinberger completed a series of acquisitions,[9][10][11] Perseus Books was named Publisher of the Year in 2007 by Publisher's Weekly which described the company as “arguably the most important independent publishing company in the nation.”[12] Perseus Books launched digital initiatives which the New York Times described as providing “hundreds of small publishers easier access to digital book technology”[13][14][15][16][17] Books published by Perseus included Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger,[18][19] as well as books by chess champion Gary Kasparov,[20] Nobel Physics Prize-winner Richard Feynman,[21] and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee.[22] Steinberger sold Perseus Books in 2016 in 2 simultaneous transactions, to Hachette Books Group and Ingram Content Group,[23][24][25] after an earlier attempt at an exit transaction fell through.[26][27]

In 2018, Steinberger and lead investors Michael Lynton , Chairman of Snap Inc., and Lily Lynton assembled an investor group to acquire independent publishing businesses, starting with Arcadia Publishing where Steinberger became CEO.[2] The investor group includes Len Blavatnik,[2] Tony Ressler[2] and Walter Isaacson.[28] Arcadia, noted for its unique approach to publishing hyper-local titles[28][29] subsequently acquired Pelican Publishing,[30] Wildsam[31] and River Road Press.[32] In 2021 Steinberger announced a leadership succession plan at Arcadia, turning over day to day management to a successor and moving to Arcadia’s board of directors.[6]

Steinberger is Chairman of the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards.[1] During his tenure, the National Book Foundation in 2016 appointed Lisa Lucas as Executive Director, the first Black person and the first woman in that role[33] and launched Book Rich Environments, described by the LA Times as turning “book deserts into literary oases.”[34] Steinberger is also a board member of the Fund for the City of New York.[35]

Steinberger is married to Dara Caponigro,[36] the creative director at F. Schumacher & Co., and former Editor-in-Chief at Veranda, Decoration Director at House Beautiful and Style Director at Domino.[37]