{{short description|British business executive|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Use British English|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = James Daunt | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} | image = | caption = | birth_name = Achilles James Daunt | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|10|18|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = Founder, Daunt Books | education = Sherborne School | alma_mater = Pembroke College, Cambridge University | occupation = Managing Director, Waterstones | years_active = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | boards = | spouse = Katy Steward | partner = | children = 2 daughters | parents = Sir Timothy Daunt<br> Patricia Susan Knight | relatives = Achilles Daunt (great-great grandfather) | website = }}
'''Achilles James Daunt''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (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. Since August 2019, Daunt has also been CEO of Barnes & Noble, the American bookstore chain. He is known as "the man who saved Waterstones".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/james-daunt-the-man-who-saved-waterstones-9913047.html|title=James Daunt: the man who saved Waterstones|date=2014-12-10|website=Evening Standard|location=London|language=en|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Callum|title=James Daunt: The man who wrote the book on the daunting task of taking on Amazon|newspaper=The Times |language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/a-whole-new-chapter-in-barnes-noble-for-british-bookseller-james-daunt-cd8rr62jh|access-date=2021-11-09|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Achilles James Daunt<ref name=CompaniesHouse>{{cite web|title=Daunt Books Limited|url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/03068928/officers|website=Companies House|accessdate=19 November 2015}}</ref> was born on 18 October 1963,<ref name =ST>"Interview" by Oliver Shah in ''The Sunday Times'' Business Section, 22 December 2013, p. 6.</ref> the son of the diplomat Sir Timothy Daunt and his wife Patricia Susan Knight.
He was educated at Sherborne School, before reading history at Pembroke College, Cambridge University.<ref name="Pembroke">{{cite web|title=Pembroke Gazette 2012|url=http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Pembroke-Gazette-2012-Web.pdf|page=120|website=Pembroke College|accessdate=19 November 2015|archive-date=19 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119210600/http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Pembroke-Gazette-2012-Web.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Career== His first job was as a purser with Carnival Cruise Lines.<ref name =ST/>
After working in the US as a banker for JP Morgan between 1985 and 1988, he founded Daunt Books in 1990,<ref>Kate Kellaway, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/03/james-daunt-waterstones-interview "James Daunt: 'I don't recognise that books are dead'"], ''The Guardian'', 3 June 2011.</ref> a chain of six bookshops in London.<ref name=":0" />
In May 2011, he was appointed managing director of Waterstones by the company's new owner, the Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut.<ref>James Hall, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8525575/James-Daunt-parachuted-in-to-run-Waterstones.html "James Daunt parachuted in to run Waterstone's"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 20 May 2011.</ref> The pair were listed at fourth place in a 2011 ''Guardian'' list of the top 100 people in the British books industry.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/23/james-daunt-alexander-mamut-books-power-100 Books Power 100: James Daunt and Alexander Mamut | No 4], ''The Guardian'', 24 September 2011.</ref>
Daunt was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017.<ref>Natasha Onwuemezi, [http://www.thebookseller.com/news/syal-and-mcdermid-named-new-rsl-fellows-564396 "Rankin, McDermid and Levy named new RSL fellows"], ''The Bookseller'', 7 June 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellows/current-fellows/ |title=Current RSL Fellows |publisher=Royal Society of Literature |accessdate=10 June 2017 |archive-date=6 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206015823/https://rsliterature.org/fellows/current-fellows/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In June 2019, he became the CEO of the US bookshop chain Barnes & Noble,<ref>Alexandra Alter and Tiffany Hsu, [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/books/barnes-noble-sale.html "Barnes & Noble Is Sold to Hedge Fund After a Tumultuous Year'"], ''New York Times'', 7 June 2019.</ref> acquired by Waterstones' parent, Elliott Advisors (UK) for $683m.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elliott to buy Barnes & Noble; Daunt will run both chains {{!}} The Bookseller|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/elliott-buy-barnes-noble-daunt-will-run-both-chains-1020446|access-date=2019-09-04|website=thebookseller.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Porter |date=2019-06-07 |title=Hedge Fund Elliott Mngt. Agrees to Buy Barnes & Noble |url=https://publishingperspectives.com/2019/06/barnes-noble-in-deal-with-elliott-mangagement-hedge-fund-james-daunt-runs-bn-waterstones/ |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=Publishing Perspectives |language=en-US}}</ref>
In November 2021, Daunt interviewed Sir Paul McCartney to discuss McCartney's bestselling book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Romaine |first=Jenna |date=2021-12-06 |title=Paul McCartney reveals the Beatles were first all about the money |url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/584530-paul-mccartney-reveals-the-beatles-were-first-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120092334/https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/584530-paul-mccartney-reveals-the-beatles-were-first-all |archive-date=2022-01-20 |access-date=2025-10-03 |work=TheHill |language=en}}</ref>
Daunt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to publishing.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63714|supp=y|page=B9|date=1 June 2022}}</ref>
==Personal life==
He is married to Katy Steward, a professional in the health sector. They have two daughters and live in Hampstead;<ref name=ES>{{cite news|last1=Eyre|first1=Hermione|title=James Daunt: the man who saved Waterstones|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/james-daunt-the-man-who-saved-waterstones-9913047.html|accessdate=19 November 2015|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=11 December 2014}}</ref><ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|last1=Anthony|first1=Andrew|title=James Daunt: the bibliophile who means business|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2012/may/27/observer-profile-james-daunt-waterstones|accessdate=19 November 2015|work=The Guardian|date=27 May 2012}}</ref> they also have homes in Suffolk and on the Isle of Jura in Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allfree |first=Claire |date=29 January 2025 |title=Waterstones CEO James Daunt: 'We have stubbornly held on in places like Middlesbrough long after M&S left' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/29/waterstones-ceo-james-daunt-interview/ |access-date=2025-11-18 |website=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{S-start}} {{S-bus}} {{S-bef|before= Dominic Myers }} {{S-ttl|title= Managing Director of Waterstones|years= May 2011 - }} {{S-aft|after= Incumbent }} {{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daunt, James}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge James Category:English booksellers Category:People educated at Sherborne School Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Category:20th-century English businesspeople Category:21st-century English businesspeople Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire