Wiley moves interim CEO into permanent role

After serving as interim president and CEO of Wiley since October 2023 , Matthew Kissner is stepping into the permanent role, the Hoboken-based research and learning company announced July 10.

The firm said it conducted a global search to fill the position, which former leader Brian Napack vacated last fall.

Wiley said its board of directors “concluded that Matt is the right person to lead Wiley through the next phase of our journey as a knowledge solutions company.”

Kissner has been with the company for more than 20 years, serving in leadership, board and consulting roles, including a previous stint as interim CEO in 2017.

Before joining Wiley, Kissner held leadership positions with Pitney Bowes, Bankers Trust, Citibank and Morgan Stanley, the company said.

“Over the past nine months, Matt has made great progress improving our organization, accelerating our value creation plans, driving strong momentum in our core, and rallying around new AI opportunities,” board Chair Jesse Wiley said in a statement.

The company credited Kissner’s leadership with recent accomplishments, including exceeding Fiscal Year 2024 earnings guidance , delivering revenue in the higher end of its range, and executing two GenAI content rights projects.

“We finished the year strong and head into Fiscal 2025 with full confidence in our Research trajectory, GenAI momentum, and profit and performance outlook,” Kissner stated in thecompany’s Q4 and Fiscal Year 2024 earning report , released June 13.

Kissner continued, “We are seeing robust demand to publish and significant output acceleration in Research as well as continued outperformance in Learning. On top of this, we’re seeing significant interest in leveraging our authoritative content to train AI and machine learning models.”

A ‘transition year’

In the report, the company described FY2024 as a “transition year” because it divested non-core assets, restructured the organization, and recorded multiple non-cash impairments.

For the full year, Wiley reported revenue of $1.873 billion, down 7% from the previous year; operating income of $52 million, down 6%; and EPS loss of $3.65, down from $3.96.

As for his appointment, Kissner said he is “honored by the Board’s trust in me to lead this remarkable company into its next exciting phase. Our markets are trending favorably, our financials are strong, and our culture is reinvigorated.”

One of the world’s largest publishers, Wiley offers services for researchers, students, instructors, professionals, institutions and corporations.

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