Random House chief to depart

Random House Inc. chief Peter W. Olson, under fire because of lower profits, will soon resign his post as head of the world’s largest trade book publisher, according to reports published Monday on the New York Times website. The reports, which had been the subject of rumor and speculation in the European media for several weeks, were attributed to executives with Bertelsmann, the German media conglomerate that owns Random House.

-- Josh Getlin