Don Katz

Donald R. Katz (born January 30, 1952) is an American author and businessman.

He is the founder and longtime CEO of Audible, Inc. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, Audible.com offers audiobooks and similar products. Audible also introduced the first widely-used portable digital audio player in 1997, four years before the introduction of the iPod. In 2004, Katz was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for New Jersey. Audible was a publicly traded Nasdaq company until it was acquired and became a subsidiary of Amazon.com in early 2008. Audible operates digital storefronts in the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Italy, Japan, Canada, India and Spain.

Named one of NJ.com's "25 Most Influential People in New Jersey" in 2016, Katz has also been recognized as one of America's Top 25 Disruptive Leaders by Living Cities for his work on behalf of urban transformation in Newark. Katz was the recipient of a Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in 2013. In 2022, Katz was named a PEN America Business Visionary Honoree and was awarded the Innovator Tribute at the Gotham Awards.

Katz also founded Newark Venture Partners (NVP), a venture fund focused on creating a high-tech innovation hub in Newark. The fund is housed in Audible's headquarters and provides capital, company-building services and residence to innovative tech startups. The fund's inaugural accelerator class launched September 2016.

Katz served as Audible's CEO until January 2020, after which he held the title of founder and executive chairman until 2022.