Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Scholastic Corporation
The world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Founded in 1920 as a high-school classroom magazine, it became a school-channel distribution business that reaches US children directly in classrooms through book clubs and book fairs. It is the US publisher of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Clifford, Goosebumps and Dog Man. It sold its edtech business (Read 180) to HMH in 2015, and in the 2020s has been extending its IP into film and TV through 9 Story while monetising its real estate.
At a glance
- Founded
- October 22, 1920, Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, as The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic; national as The Scholastic from 1922
- Founders
- Maurice R. "Robbie" Robinson
- Headquarters
- 557 Broadway, SoHo, New York City (sold and leased back in December 2025); major distribution centre in Jefferson City, Missouri (also sold and leased back)
- Ownership / structure
- Public, Nasdaq: SCHL (re-IPO 1992). Dual-class: Class A shares, which elect a majority of the board, are controlled by Robinson-family trusts and by Iole Lucchese, who inherited Richard Robinson's controlling Class A stake (~53.8%) in 2021. A will contest by Robinson's son was reported in 2026 (verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Peter Warwick, President and CEO (since 2021); Iole Lucchese, Chair (since 2021) and executive (Chief Strategy Officer; Scholastic Entertainment) (verify current titles)
- Segment and buyer
- Children's books and K-12 supplemental education. Buyers are parents (through fairs and clubs), teachers, schools, districts, retailers and libraries. Users are children aged 0–14 and teachers
- Scale
- FY2026 (year ended May 31, 2026) revenue ~$1.58bn (down ~3%); FY2025 ~$1.63bn. Book fairs ~$576m in FY2026; Education Solutions ~$268m (down ~14%); adjusted EBITDA ~$151.5m (FY2026). Peak revenue ~$2.2bn in FY2008 (the Deathly Hallows year). Book fairs and clubs reach a large majority of US elementary schools (company claims)
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- Market cap roughly ~$0.6–0.9bn in 2025–26 (verify). Sale-leasebacks raised ~$481m gross / ~$401m net (December 2025). 9 Story acquired for ~C$250m / ~$186m announced ($193.7m recorded) (2024)
- Signature moves
- Classroom magazines (1920); school book clubs (late 1940s); Scholastic Book Fairs (1981); 1992 IPO with dual-class control; Harry Potter US rights (1997); The Hunger Games (2008); $575m sale of EdTech to HMH (2015); 9 Story acquisition (2024); HQ sale-leaseback (2025). Controversies and misses: the 2023 book-fair "diversity collection" opt-out; the 2023 Tokuda-Hall author's-note dispute; the 2021 CEO succession surprise; repeated attempts to build education and digital businesses
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1920
Founding Classroom Magazine
Launch
1948
School Book Clubs
Launch (new distribution channel)
1981
Scholastic Book Fairs
Launch (new distribution channel; later scaled by acquisitions and consolidation)
1992
IPO Dual Class
IPO (return to public markets after a management-led buyout; verify buyout details)
1997
Harry Potter US Rights
Content / IP acquisition (publishing rights)
2015
Sells EdTech to HMH
Divestiture
2023
Book Fair Diversity Opt Out
Policy / product-assortment decision, then reversal
2024
Acquires 9 Story Media
Acquisition
2025
Real Estate Sale Leaseback
Restructuring / capital allocation (real-estate monetisation)