Why did Peter Olson fire highly respected Ann Godoff from her perch as the president of the Random House Trade Group? “Mr. Olson’s motives are a matter of great consequence in the book business, where Bertelsmann’s Random House division is the largest consumer publisher in the world. He said his public condemnation of Ms. Godoff’s performance simply reflected honesty about a ruthless devotion to the bottom line: publishers who repeatedly fail to meet financial goals must go.” She failed, so she was out.