Short answers, pulled from the story.
Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster founded Simon & Schuster in New York City in 1924. The company began after Simon's aunt asked whether a book of New York World crossword puzzles existed, and the two partners decided to publish one themselves.
Simon & Schuster is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) since the 30th of October 2023. KKR acquired the company from Paramount Global for $1.62 billion.
US federal judge Florence Y. Pan blocked the $2.175 billion deal on the 31st of October 2022. The United States Department of Justice had filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in 2021 arguing the acquisition would give the combined publisher too much influence over books and author payments.
Simon & Schuster is one of the "Big Five" English-language publishers, alongside Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Macmillan Publishers. The company publishes around 2,000 titles annually under more than 35 imprints.
On the 11th of April 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed suit alleging Simon & Schuster, Apple, and four other major publishers conspired to fix e-book prices and weaken Amazon's market position in violation of antitrust law. A federal judge approved a settlement in December 2013, with Simon & Schuster and the other publishers paying into a fund for affected customers.
Simon & Schuster launched its audiobook division in 1985. According to then-editor Michael Korda, audiobooks became a major business for the company by the 1990s.