Andy Bird has his work cut out at Pearson (Miles Costello writes). The former Walt Disney executive, who took charge of the academic publisher last month, must address a painfully slow recovery at the group’s North American courseware business against the backdrop of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He has at least to maintain or more likely accelerate the group’s reinvention as a digital publisher. He has to mollify a sizeable proportion of Pearson’s shareholders, almost a third of whom took exception to his $9 million “golden hello”. And he has to do it all as the shares, down a third over the past two years, labour under pressure from short-sellers convinced that they have further to fall.
Pearson started life
