Scardino, Marjorie

▪ 2004

      When Dame Marjorie Scardino, CEO of the British media firm Pearson PLC, accepted a bonus of £273,000 (about $452,000) in 2003, media watchers began asking if she had earned it, given that Pearson had lost £25 million (about $40 million) in 2002. After all, she had waived her bonus a year earlier following Pearson's 2001 loss of £436 million (about $633 million). Scardino's critics demanded a turnaround and pointed to declining advertising revenues at the Financial Times (FT), the firm's leading publication. Scardino spurned recommendations to sell the FT, insisting it would not be sold during a downturn. Her reasoned managerial approach did much to improve Pearson's standing. Her contributions to British media were recognized when she was named Dame Commander in February 2002, a month after she had adopted British citizenship.

      Scardino was born Marjorie Morris on Jan. 25, 1947, in Flagstaff, Ariz. She studied French and psychology at Baylor University, Waco, Texas (B.A., 1969), and, following a stint as an Associated Press editor, completed her legal studies at the University of San Francisco (J.D., 1975). While working as the managing partner (1976–85) of a Savannah, Ga., law firm, Scardino and her husband, Albert, launched and published a weekly newspaper, the Georgia Gazette, which succeeded editorially under Albert's direction. Financially, however, the paper failed. Marjorie, who served as its publisher, later said that the Gazette's business losses taught her more than any success could have.

      Scardino joined Pearson by way of the New York offices of the Economist magazine, which was half owned by Pearson. As president (1985–93) of the Economist Newspaper Group, Inc., she more than doubled the North American circulation. Upon assuming the position of CEO of the Economist Group in 1993, she moved to the magazine's London headquarters and branched into businesses such as financial research services and sector analyses.

      By 1996 Pearson had become a £2.25 billion (about $3.5 billion) media firm hobbled by far-flung interests. Scardino was named CEO in 1997 and swiftly charted new directions by selling peripheral businesses such as Mindscape, a money-losing technology company; Tussaud's, famous for waxworks; and Lazard, an investment firm. Nicknamed “Marj in Charge,” she made a big bet on educational publishing by purchasing Simon & Schuster's educational businesses in 1998. Despite missteps, such as overinvesting in on-line education, Scardino organized Pearson into three key divisions: consumer publishing, financial publishing, and Pearson Education—now the world's largest educational firm—comprising NCS Pearson, a testing and certification firm, and educational publishing.

      When Pearson's midyear results were announced in July, Scardino predicted healthy profits by the end of 2003. New titles by key authors were scheduled for release by year-end, and payments on education contracts would be forthcoming. Luck also contributed; thanks to endorsement by Oprah Winfrey, Penguin sold 1.2 million copies of John Steinbeck's East of Eden in four weeks—more than had sold in 30 years, while Putnam's Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg was scaling the best-seller lists.

Sarah Forbes Orwig

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