Donald R. Katz (born January 30, 1952[1]) is the founder [2] of Audible, Inc. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, Audible.com serves millions of listeners and offers over 800,000 downloadable audiobooks, Audible Originals (including Audible Theater and Audible Words + Music programming) and podcasts. Audible also commercialized the first portable digital audio player in 1997, four years before the introduction of the iPod. In 2004, Katz was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for New Jersey.[1] Audible was a publicly traded Nasdaq company until it was acquired and became a subsidiary of Amazon.com in early 2008.[3] Audible operates digital storefronts in the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Italy, Japan, Canada, India and Spain.
Named one of NJ.com's "25 Most Influential People in New Jersey" in 2016,[4] Katz has also been recognized as one of America's Top 25 Disruptive Leaders by Living Cities for his work on behalf of urban transformation in Newark.[5] Katz was the recipient of a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in 2013.[citation needed] In 2022, Katz was named a PEN America Business Visionary Honoree[6] and was awarded the Innovator Tribute at the Gotham Awards.
Katz also founded Newark Venture Partners (NVP), a venture fund focused on creating a high-tech innovation hub in Newark.[7] The fund is housed in Audible's headquarters and provides capital, company-building services and residence to innovative tech startups. The fund's inaugural accelerator class launched September 2016.[8]
Katz served as Audible's CEO until January 2020, after which he held the title of founder and executive chairman until 2022.[9]
Biography
Katz was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 30, 1952.[1] He graduated from New York University in 1974, where he studied with Ralph Ellison, who had been made Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities.[10] Katz credits his idea to work in the field of audiobooks to studying under Ellison, with his emphasis on literature being something more than text and something that should be heard and performed, saying "I studied literature with Ralph as much as I read his work and talked about writing… Audible is testament, in many ways, to what I learned from him."[11] He also attended The University of Chicago as well as The London School of Economics, from which he holds an MSc in Economics.[1] He lives in Montclair, New Jersey, is married and has three children.[1]
Impact work
Katz’s work in Newark, N.J., spans decades. In 2007, Don moved Audible’s global headquarters from suburban New Jersey to downtown Newark, the largest city in the state, to be part of the city’s renaissance.[12] Today, Audible is the fastest-growing private employer in the city, with more than 1,900 employees in its Newark offices and hundreds more globally.[13]
The embrace of Newark’s comeback is a defining mission for the company. Audible’s work in Newark has created jobs, sustained businesses, and generated foot traffic, resulting in over $775 million in economic activity.[14]
“I consider the Newark move one of the best decisions we’ve made as a company,” Don has said.[15]
Under Katz’s leadership, Audible launched the Global Center for Urban Development in September 2020.[16] The center’s goal is to expand the company’s community and economic initiatives and launch new models focused on advancing equality, racial justice, and economic empowerment. The center brings together all equitable community aspirations at Audible under a single organization, from existing community projects in Newark to new efforts around urban innovation, to improve the lives of those in the cities and countries in which Audible operates.
One of Audible’s five People Principles, written by Katz, is “Activate Caring.” It says: “We work to improve the lives of those without privilege in the cities and countries in which we operate, because Audible seeks to exemplify what a company can mean beyond what it does.”[17]
In 2019, Audible opened its Innovation Cathedral, converting a historic, 80,000 square-foot church and community center into a state-of-the-art workspace that houses hundreds of engineers, product managers, and other workers.[18]
Under Katz, Audible has also pioneered programs that advance equality, education, and economic development in Newark’s urban core, including:
Newark Working Kitchens: The Audible-led COVID-19 response has activated dozens of local restaurants to cook and serve nutritious meals for low-income seniors and families and people without homes—while keeping restaurants afloat during the pandemic. The program has served more than 1.5 million meals.[19]
Community hiring: Audible identifies, hires, and trains Newark residents without traditional resumes by partnering with community organizations.[20]
Paid internships: Newark high school students work side-by-side with Audible technologists, recruiters, data scientists, and sound engineers as paid interns. Once they go to college, they receive a monthly scholarship from Audible and return to work during breaks. All of Audible’s paid high school interns have been accepted to two- or four-year colleges.[21]
Live Local: Audible provides a $500 monthly subsidy to employees living in Newark to encourage active participation in the city’s life.[22]
Katz also served as a member of the public library board in Montclair, New Jersey[23] for nine years and on the board of Uncommon Schools,[24] a nonprofit organization that manages several of the most outstanding urban college preparatory charter schools in the Northeast, since the organization was founded in 1997.
Newark is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 311,549, an increase of 34,409 (+12.4%) from the 2010 census count of 277,140, which in turn reflected an increase of 3,594 (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted in the 2000 census. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 305,344 for 2022, making it the 66th-most populous municipality in the nation.
Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county, with a population of 863,728, its highest decennial count since the 1970 census and an increase of 79,759 (+10.2%) from the 2010 census count of 783,969.
East Orange is a city in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 census count of 64,270, which in turn reflected a decline of 5,554 (−8.0%) from the 69,824 counted in the 2000 census. The city was the state's 17th most populous municipality in 2020, after having been ranked 20th in 2010 and 14th statewide in 2000. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 68,446 in 2022, ranking the city the 553rd-most-populous in the country.
Montclair is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. The township is the home of Montclair State University, the state's second largest university.
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase of 4,313 (+14.3%) from the 2010 census count of 30,134, which in turn reflected a decline of 2,734 (+8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in the 2000 census.
Bloomfield College of Montclair State University is a public college in Bloomfield, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The school became part of Montclair State University starting in July 2023, before which it had been a private college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through the Synod of the Northeast.
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New Jersey. As of November 2021, there were 21,005 total enrolled students: 16,374 undergraduate students and 4,631 graduate students. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The campus covers approximately 252 acres (1.02 km2). The university offers more than 300 majors, minors, and concentrations.
Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receives "credits" that can be redeemed for content monthly and receive access to a curated on-demand library of content. Audible is the United States' largest audiobook producer and retailer. The service is owned by Audible, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.
The Montclair Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade from the Township of Montclair, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The district consists of seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school.
Immaculate Conception High School is a Roman Catholic co-educational college preparatory high school located in Montclair, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1957.
University Hospital is an independent, state owned, teaching hospital in Newark, New Jersey that provides tertiary care to Northern New Jersey. The hospital is certified by the American College of Surgeons and is a state-designated Level 1 Trauma Center, one of only three in New Jersey.
Steve Adubato is an American television broadcaster, author and university lecturer. In the mid 1980s he was New Jersey's youngest state legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly at age 26. Adubato holds a doctorate from Rutgers University in the field of mass media and communication. He is the author of four books.
One Washington Park is a high rise office building located on Harriet Tubman Square at 1 Washington Street in Newark, New Jersey. Among the tallest buildings in the city, it is best known as the home of Rutgers Business School, Amazon's Audible.com, and Newark Venture Partners.
TAPinto is a network of more than 95 independently owned and operated local news and digital marketing platforms in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Based in New Providence, New Jersey, TAPinto.net is one of the largest online local news gathering operations in New Jersey. It was founded by New Providence residents Michael and Lauryn Shapiro in October 2008 to provide independent local news. In the past two decades many local hardcopy newspapers have been acquired by national conglomerates that have slashed the newsroom. Other hardcopy newspapers have gone out of business leaving news deserts in their wake. In the coverage vacuum, hyperlocal online media such as TAPinto are often the only local news coverage that many communities get.
Clement Alexander Price was an American historian. As the Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at Rutgers University-Newark, Price brought his study of the past to bear on contemporary social issues in his adopted hometown of Newark, New Jersey, and across the nation. He was the founding director of the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers; the vice chair of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the chair of Obama's transition team for the National Endowment for the Humanities; a member of the Scholarly Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; and a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Harriet Tubman Square is a city square in Downtown Newark, New Jersey.
Robert Carrigan is the CEO of Audible, Inc., having assumed the role on January 2, 2020. Previously, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dun & Bradstreet between 2013 and 2018, and a senior executive at IDG Communications Inc. from 2003 to 2013.
Newark Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital and early stage accelerator in Newark, New Jersey focusing on technology startups. The NVP Labs are located at facilities of the Rutgers Business School at One Washington Park.
Shadow of a Face is a monument to abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Newark, New Jersey's Harriet Tubman Square designed by architect and artist Nina Cooke John. It was unveiled on March 9, 2023. It replaced a monument to Christopher Columbus in the same location which was removed in 2020 by the city to prevent its toppling in a Black Lives Matter protest. Several other monuments are in the park.
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