Michael Hyatt is the former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. He has worked in the book publishing industry for most of his career.
Michael began at Word Publishing while a student at Baylor University, where he majored in philosophy. He worked at Word for a total of six years. In addition to serving as Vice President of Marketing at Thomas Nelson in the mid-80s, he also started his own publishing company, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, in 1986. Word eventually acquired the company in 1992.
He was a successful literary agent from 1992 until early 1998. However, finding that he really missed the world of corporate publishing, he rejoined Thomas Nelson in 1998. He worked in a variety of roles in both divisional and corporate management.
Michael was CEO from August 2005 to April 2011, when he was succeeded by Mark Schoenwald. He was Chairman from August 2006 until the company was acquired by HarperCollins in July 2012. Since that time, Michael has ran my own company, Michael Hyatt & Company. It is a multi-million dollar online training company.
Michael has written eight books, two of which landed on the New York Times bestseller list. His newest book, Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want, is on the subject of life planning. He wrote it with his friend, Daniel Harkavy, Founder, CEO, and Executive Coach of Building Champions.
Michael has been married to for thirty-eight years. They have five daughters, five grandsons, and three granddaughters. He and his family live outside of Nashville, Tennessee.