James Daunt is one of the most popular and richest Bookseller who was born on October 18, 1963 in Islington, England, United Kingdom.
Achilles James Daunt (born 18 October 1963) is a British businessman. He is the founder of the Daunt Books chain, and since May 2011 has been managing director of the bookshop chain Waterstones. Known as “the man who saved Waterstones”. In June 2019, he became the CEO of the US bookshop chain Barnes & Noble, acquired by Waterstones’ parent, Elliott Advisors (UK) for $683m.
His first job was as a purser with Carnival Cruise Lines. After working in the US as a banker for JP Morgan, he founded Daunt Books, 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. The pair were listed at fourth place in a 2011 Guardian list of the top 100 people in the British books industry.
