Achilles James Daunt (born 18 October 1963) is a British businessman. He is the founder of the

Daunt Books Daunt Books is a chain of bookshops in England, founded in 1990 by James Daunt. It originally specialised in travel books. In 2010, it began publishing. James Daunt later became CEO of Waterstones and the US bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. Bo ...

chain, and since May 2011 has been managing director of the bookshop chain

Waterstones Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

. Since August 2019, Daunt has also been CEO of

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

, the American bookstore chain. He is known as "the man who saved Waterstones".

Early life and education

Achilles James Daunt was born on 18 October 1963,"Interview" by Oliver Shah in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' Business Section, 22 December 2013, p. 6. the son of the diplomat Sir Timothy Daunt and his wife Patricia Susan Knight. He was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

, before reading history at Pembroke College,

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Career

His first job was as a purser with

Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

. After working in the US as a banker for

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the wo ...

between 1985 and 1988, he founded Daunt Books in 1990, a chain of six bookshops in London. In May 2011, he was appointed managing director of Waterstones by the company's new owner, the Russian billionaire

Alexander Mamut Alexander Leonidovich Mamut also spelled Aleksandr, (russian: Алекса́ндр Леони́дович Маму́т; born 29 January 1960, Moscow) is a Russian billionaire lawyer, banker and investor. Used to be (until 2020) a co-owner of Ram ...

. The pair were listed at fourth place in a 2011 ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' list of the top 100 people in the British books industry. Daunt was elected an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

in 2017. In June 2019, he became the CEO of the US bookshop chain

, acquired by Waterstones' parent, Elliott Advisors (UK) for $683m. Daunt was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as par ...

for services to publishing.

Personal life

He is married to Katy Steward, a professional in the health sector. They have two daughters, Molly and Eliza, and live in a 4-storey house in Hampstead. They have a second house in Beccles,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, and a third on the Isle of Jura in Scotland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daunt, James 1963 births Living people Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

English booksellers People educated at Sherborne School Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople Commanders of the Order of the British Empire