Jonathan N. Grayer

As Kaplan’s CEO from 1994 to 2008, Jonathan Grayer transformed the company from a small US test prep provider into a diversified global education corporation serving more than one million students a year.

In the early 1990s, Kaplan was losing money and facing tough competition from a new wave of test prep providers. The company started to falter in the industry it had founded and once dominated. The Washington Post Company knew they needed strong, energetic leadership to ensure Kaplan would have a bright future.

In 1991, they tapped Jonathan Grayer to revitalize Kaplan’s marketing efforts. Grayer, a dynamic recent Harvard Business School graduate, had joined The Washington Post Company the year before as the Marketing Director of Newsweek. After holding several positions within Kaplan, Grayer was appointed President and CEO just three years later at the age of 29. He spent 17 years with Kaplan and is credited with overseeing Kaplan’s expansion from an $80 million test preparation company in 1994 to a diverse educational services provider with over $2 billion in revenue in 2008.

In the first years of his tenure as CEO, Grayer brought on board a talented group of managers, and together they began making significant changes to the business that would give Kaplan a competitive advantage against other test prep companies. They converted independent contractors to employees, invested in technology, improved teacher training and product development, and introduced a series of new marketing campaigns.

Starting in the mid-1990s, Grayer began to diversify the company beyond test preparation into new areas such as K12 programs and professional training. In 2000, Grayer completed the acquisition of Quest Education Corporation, a publicly-traded network of career colleges that served students often shut out of the traditional higher education system. This transaction brought Kaplan into the higher education market, which is the largest part of the company today, and underscored Kaplan’s commitment to broadening access to education.

In 2002, Grayer was renamed Chairman and CEO of Kaplan, Inc. and spent the next several years focused on Kaplan’s global expansion. Through a series of acquisitions and the formation of start up businesses, Grayer built a significant presence for Kaplan in Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2004, BusinessWeek named Grayer one of the best managers of the year for his leadership in establishing Kaplan as The Washington Post Company’s "financial crown jewel." That year, Kaplan surpassed $1 billion in revenue and represented 34 percent of The Washington Post Company’s revenue.

In 2005, Grayer was named by then U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to the Commission on the Future of Higher Education to help develop a national strategy for postsecondary education. The following year, he led the formation of the Kaplan Educational Foundation, the company’s largest philanthropic initiative to date. The Foundation provides scholarships and academic assistance to help high-potential, low-income community college students pursue bachelor’s degrees at top universities. Grayer also founded the Kaplan Leadership Academy, a professional training initiative for Kaplan employees to build and refine their managerial skills. Recently the meeting facility at Kaplan’s New York City headquarters used for the Leadership Academy was named the Jonathan N. Grayer Training Center in recognition of Grayer’s legacy and his commitment to attracting and developing talent throughout the organization.

In late 2007, The Washington Post Company rebranded itself an “education and media” company to reflect Kaplan’s growth and success; at year-end 2007, Kaplan had surpassed $2 billion in revenue and accounted for nearly 50 percent of The Washington Post Company’s revenue.  Grayer’s leadership had transformed Kaplan from a small test prep provider into one of the world’s largest diversified education companies, a business success story reported on by national and international media including Fortune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.  His vision and outcomes-based approach served as a model in the education community and helped to evolve the for-profit education industry.

After a 17-year legacy of growth and expansion, all the while retaining Kaplan’s original mission of helping students achieve their educational and career goals, Grayer resigned his position in November 2008 to focus on entrepreneurial activity, investment and philanthropy. He was succeeded by current Chairman and CEO Andrew Rosen.