
Doug is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst who spent more than 20 years as a derivatives market maker and asset manager before “reincarnating” as a financial media professional a decade ago.
Before joining Britannica, Doug spent nearly six years managing content marketing projects for a dozen clients, including The Ticker Tape, TD Ameritrade’s market news and financial education site for retail investors. He has been a CAIA charter holder since 2006, and also held a Series 3 license during his years as a derivatives specialist.
Doug previously served as Regional Director for the Chicago region of PRMIA, the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association, and he also served as editor of Intelligent Risk, PRMIA’s quarterly member newsletter. He holds a BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from Illinois Institute of Technology, Stuart School of Business.
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Simon & Schuster is an American publishing house. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster, whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a bestseller. Among the publisherâs other innovations was Pocket Books, the first American paperback line, which was launched in 1939. The company came to publish a wide variety of books, including many best-sellers and prizewinners.
In 1975 the company was sold to Gulf + Western Inc., which was renamed Paramount Communications in 1989 and acquired by Viacom Inc. in 1994. Simon & Schuster became part of Viacomâs CBS division in 2005. In 1998, Simon & Schuster sold its educational, professional, and reference divisions to Pearson PLC and concentrated on fiction and nonfiction for the general reader.
In 2006, Simon & Schuster became part of CBS Corporation, which was spun off from Viacom. CBS and Viacom reunited in 2019 as ViacomCBS (renamed Paramount Global in 2022). In 2023 Paramount Global sold the publisher to the private equity firm KKR, making it an independent company once again.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Doug Ashburn