What They Did
Wiley was a major academic publisher of textbooks and scholarly journals, one of the oldest publishing houses in the United States.
How LLMs Killed Them
AI disrupted demand for academic content and forced major restructuring. On top of declining textbook sales, AI-generated paper mill fraud flooded their journals with fake research papers, forcing them to shut down 19 scholarly journals entirely.
Timeline
- May 2023: Stock dropped alongside Chegg and Pearson.
- 2023-2024: CEO resigned; interim CEO Matthew Kissner took over (October 2023, permanent July 2024).
- 2024: Laid off 103+ employees at NJ headquarters. Divested three business units. Targeting $30M savings.
- 2024: Shut down 19 scholarly journals due to AI-generated paper mill fraud.
- 2024: Signed $23M AI licensing deal with undisclosed tech company, plus $21M deal with another.
By the Numbers
- 19 scholarly journals shut down due to AI fraud
- 103+ employees laid off
- $44M expected from AI licensing deals
- Authors have no opt-out from AI licensing of their work