Richard E. Snyder

Richard Elliot “Dick” Snyder (born 1933) in Brooklyn, New York is an American publishing executive best known for his tenures at Simon & Schuster and Western Publishing.

He graduated from Tufts University in 1955 and served in the United States Army, receiving an honorable discharge in 1956. He began as a trainee at Doubleday & Co., rising to assistant marketing director in 1958. Snyder began working at Simon & Schuster in 1960, serving as President from 1975 to 1986, CEO from 1978 to 1994, and Chairman from 1986 to 1994. From 1975 to 1994, Simon & Schuster went from US$40 million to US$2 billion in annual revenue and became the largest book publisher in the world, home to notable authors including Bob Woodward, Graham Greene, Larry McMurtry, Mary Higgins Clark, Philip Roth, Joan Didion, Joseph Heller, Ian McEwen, Mario Puzo, Stephen Ambrose, Thomas Keneally, Walter Isaacson, and David McCullough. The trade division won nine Pulitzer Prizes in a row during his tenure.

After being abruptly dismissed by Viacom president Frank Biondi Jr. in 1994, Snyder formed an investment group to acquire control of Western Publishing, publishers of the Golden Books series of children's books. That deal was completed in 1996, and the company was renamed Golden Books Family Entertainment. By 1998, shares of Golden Books lost 98 percent of their value. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in early 1999, emerged in January 2000 and entered bankruptcy once again in 2001. The company was purchased by Random House and Classic Media following the 2001 bankruptcy.

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