PHYLLIS GRANN is leaving her position as vice chairwoman of Random House after six months, complaining of boredom with her job. Her departure follows her resignation last fall as chief
executive of Penguin Putnam and extends a drama that has captivated publishing as Grann seeks a fitting role to extend her illustrious career. Grann, who is over 60, may continue to work for Random
House, a unit of Bertelsmann, as a consultant, but her friends said they expected her work for the company to be minimal after her unhappy tenure there. Grann is expected to move into an office in the
private equity firm of Leeds, Weld & Company, which recently hired Jonathan Newcomb, former chief executive of Simon & Schuster; the firm sometimes invests in publishing.
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