Publishing giant Pearson has appointed John Fallon as its new CEO, following Dame Marjorie Scardino’s decision to step down after her 16-year tenure. Fallon will take on his new job in January 2013, joining the company’s board immediately.
Fallon graduated with a degree in economics, politics and sociology from Hull University in 1983. After several roles in public policy and communications for the local and national government, he worked at gas and power company Powergen (now E.ON UK) as director of public affairs.
He joined Pearson in 1997 as director of communications, moving on in 2000 to serve as president of Pearson Inc in New York.
In 2003 he was appointed CEO of the company’s education business for the EMEA region and in 2008 was promoted to head its worldwide development outside the US, including fast-growing markets such as China, India, Brazil and southern Africa. His performance led to a strong increase from £322 mn ($515 mn) to £1.4 bn in Pearson’s international education sales in the past decade.
Scardino was the first woman to lead a FTSE 100 company and is Britain’s highest-paid female director, with a total remuneration of £9.6 mn in 2011. She is credited with the successful development of Pearson, which owns the Financial Times and Penguin Books, from a broad and diversified conglomerate into a digitally focused education and publishing business.
The company’s digital and services businesses, which accounted for one third of its turnover in 2011, is expected to generate more than half its revenue this year for the first time in its history.
Pearson’s pre-tax profits soared by 72 percent to £1.1 bn last year, due mainly to the sale of its 50 percent stake in FTSE International to co-owner the London Stock Exchange.
