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method of converting CD-ROM applications into online downloads. This acquisition was the beginning of O'Callaghan's efforts to web-enable the company's software. It was followed by a $ 24 million acquisition of ED-Vantage and an $ 85 million acquisition of Edmark. Both were IBM subsidiaries that provided digital educational content online and together the acquisitions made IBM a 14 percent shareholder in
Riverdeep. As O'Callaghan expanded Riverdeep's network of distribution partners that sold the software to individual schools, IBM became a significant partner in referring business to Riverdeep.
30:
154:"abruptly" left as the company's accounting auditors that year, saying the company made "incorrect representations" about "a material contract," an allegation O'Callaghan denied. O'Callaghan used low-interest loans to fund acquisitions of traditional print publishers. At first he led the acquisition of smaller publishers, before buying
166:. O'Callaghan owned about one-third of the company and is estimated to have had 1.5 billion euro in assets after both acquisitions. He was the largest investor in the company. The acquisitions made EMPG the largest educational publisher in the US market, but it became laden with debt from loans made to fund the acquisitions.
69:(born 1969) is an Irish business executive and financier. He is the Chairman and CEO of AKLO Capital (a private investment office) and the former CEO of HMH. He grew the small educational software company Riverdeep into the largest K-12 publishing company in the American education system through a series of acquisitions.
207:
In 2011, Rise Global purchased the
Chinese business of Houghton Mifflin and O'Callaghan became CEO of Rise Global, which teaches English to people in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere. He personally owns exclusive rights to some of HMH’s educational materials for teaching the English language. He
177:
O'Callaghan refinanced the company in 2009, reducing its debt by $ 1 billion. He tried to sell the
Houghton Mifflin business, but turned down the offers he got as being too low. In 2010, bondholders that Riverdeep was indebted to converted their debts into equity in the company, and took control of
173:
caused US states, and
California in particular, to cut spending on textbooks from EMPG. As education budgets were cut, the company was forced to re-negotiate with bondholders. It owed $ 700 million per year in interest payments for the loan-funded acquisitions. The Houghton Mifflin brand also fell
122:
Just as CD-ROMs were gaining popularity, O'Callaghan transitioned
Riverdeep away from CDs into offering online subscriptions to educational content. He led the acquisition of a software company called Logal, which sold math curriculum online. More significantly, it had intellectual property for a
212:
for 14 times its annual profit due to
Chinese legal restrictions on foreigners owning educational assets in China. The success of the Rise China led O'Callaghan to found the Rise Global network including Rise Korea, in which he aims to make English language more applicable and relevant to Korean
221:
O'Callaghan also has a controlling interest in
Patheos, a spirituality website. He is the owner of Beanstalk Innovation, an online education consultancy in Massachusetts. He owns the Cliff Hotel Collection in Ireland.He owns the Cliff House hotel and Cliff Townhouse restaurant and guesthouse in
182:
list of richest people, to the 21st. He had $ 1.2 billion in assets in 2008 and 348 million by the end of 2009, as his 22% stake in the company was almost completely eliminated. O'Callaghan continued to serve as CEO until resigning from that position in 2011 and serving as an advisor for an
81:, a Jesuit secondary boarding school. He was captain of the school's senior cup rugby team and later he played rugby for Trinity College Dublin, where he studied law in the late 1980s. According to O'Callaghan, after graduating he no longer wanted to pursue a career in law.
162:'s US school business, which were bought for $ 1.75 billion and $ 4 billion in 2006 and 2007 respectively. He merged Riverdeep with Houghton Mifflin in 2006 to create the Education Media and Publishing Group (EMPG), before acquiring Harcourt Education in America from
146:
in 2003. The buyout brought O'Callaghan's interest in the company to 21 percent. From 2003 to 2004, he "streamlined" the company, negotiated 300 million euro in bonds and worked to expand into international markets, like the United
Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
186:
O'Callaghan said the company's financial problems were the result of unpredictable market circumstances for textbook purchases and paying too much for the
Houghton Mifflin business. He blamed "bad timing, and, frankly, bad luck." According to
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the business in order to avoid bankruptcy. This almost completely eliminated the interests of shareholders, including O'Callaghan, whose shares were used as collateral for most of the loans. He went from being seventh place in the
174:
out of favor with many in the literary community after discontinuing some of its contracts with writers. O'Callaghan became Chief
Executive Officer of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in April 2009, after the prior CEO retired.
134:
in 2000. Initially it received a $ 2 billion valuation after having tripled in share price over a few days of trading. O'Callaghan's seven percent interest in the company became worth $ 126 million. The
150:
O'Callaghan and company founder Pat McDonagh bought the shares of venture capitalists; then O'Callaghan bought McDonagh's portion in 2006, giving O'Callaghan a 59.4 percent share of the company.
98:, where he "quickly prospered" working in mergers & acquisitions. He worked in the London office, then later in the Hong Kong office, before moving to New York City to work at
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said Riverdeep's time as a public company was difficult, in particular due to criticisms from activist investor David Rocker, who accused Riverdeep of shady accounting practices.
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In response to Rocker's criticisms and improving financials, but a declining share price as the tech bubble declined, O'Callaghan and others took the company private, through a
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said he was a "freewheeling Irishman" that was skating on "thin ice." Business author Paul Carro said O'Callaghan had built "a house of cards" where failure was inevitable.
756:"Barry O'Callaghan, chairman of textbook publisher Education Media and Publishing Group (EMPG), is to take up the position of chief executive at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt"
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in 1999 to become the Chief Executive Officer of the digital publishing startup, Riverdeep, in order to take the company public.
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Barry O'Callaghan was born in 1969 in Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland. His father was a doctor. O'Callaghan was educated at
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said O'Callaghan responded to the crisis quickly thanks to "deft management" and the "loyalty of his business partners."
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541:"Ireland Interviewed: Barry O'Callaghan, chief executive of educational publishing company Riverdeep published".
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additional year. During this time, the company was restructured, reducing its debt by another $ 4 billion.
106:. In 1997 O'Callaghan got a senior job the telecommunications and technology division of investment bank
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O'Callaghan met his wife, Geraldine McGeough, at Trinity College. They have three daughters and a son.
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Ireland. In 2016 he bought a popular wedding venue, Village at Lyons, for €6 million in 2016.
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The FitzPatrick Tapes: The Rise and Fall of One Man, One Bank, and One Country
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After getting a degree in law, Barry O'Callaghan got a job at investment bank
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110:. There he helped internet companies prepare to go public. O'Callaghan quit
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782:"O'Callaghan steps down as chief executive of education publishing firm"
414:"Deals in Textbook Business Make Irishman a Leader in U.S. Publishing"
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635:"'It slightly bemuses me that I'm being positioned as the bad guy'"
817:"O'Callaghan Puts Faith in First International School for Dublin"
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O'Keeffe, Michelle (27 April 2009). "The Not so Rich List".
517:"End of an era after O'Callaghan steps down as chief of HMH"
873:"Relishing the sheer challenge of running cliff top hotel"
354:"Has O'Callaghan got what it takes to top the Terminator?"
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854:"Global education trend shifts to AI:Rise Global chief"
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562:"Dealmaker O'Callaghan rides out choppy credit markets"
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899:"The founder of EMPG has pumped €3.5m into own hotel"
592:"O'Callaghan buys out Pat McDonagh's Riverdeep stake"
669:"EMPG shareholders face wipeout in bondholder deal"
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487:(in Basque). Penguin Books Limited. p. 165.
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60:Former CEO of EMPG, formerly known as Riverdeep
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515:Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew (16 March 2011).
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258:"A chief executive at the age of 30"
871:Hancock, Ciaran (17 October 2014).
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754:O'Hora, Ailish (7 April 2009).
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412:Pfanner, Eric (23 July 2007).
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720:Lyons, T.; Carey, B. (2011).
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815:Carey, Brian (15 May 2016).
481:Daly, G.; Kehoe, I. (2013).
256:Thursday (14 January 2010).
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108:Credit Suisse First Boston
102:near the beginning of the
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73:Early life and education
695:"The Rich List Top 100"
450:"Pythagoras on the web"
128:initial public offering
947:Irish chief executives
300:"A Big Wheeler Dealer"
79:Clongowes Wood College
543:Sunday Business Post
137:Sunday Business Post
100:Salomon Smith Barney
545:. 19 December 2004.
40:1969 (age 47 or 48)
927:Official biography
762:on 8 October 2016.
568:. 17 February 2016
418:The New York Times
52:CEO of Rise Global
733:978-0-14-196702-8
675:. 14 January 2010
494:978-1-84488-315-8
152:Ernst & Young
144:management buyout
67:Barry O'Callaghan
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392:16 February
363:14 February
310:17 February
267:17 February
203:Rise Global
193:Irish Times
936:Categories
908:29 January
705:29 January
679:29 January
644:29 January
234:References
217:Other work
213:students.
90:Early work
49:Occupation
197:The Globe
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132:Nasdaq
85:Career
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