• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Riggio To Retire As B&N Chairman in September

April 27, 2016
By Sarah Weinman

Barnes & Noble, Inc. founder Leonard Riggio, 75, announced he will retire in September from his position as executive chairman — after the annual shareholder meeting — though he intends to remain on the company’s board of directors. Riggio still controls 17.5 percent of Barnes & Noble’s shares (with Abrams Capital Management as the company’s second-largest holder, now with almost 14 percent of the stock). Paul Guenther, a board member since 2015 and former president of Paine Webber, will serve as BN’s nonexecutive chairman after Riggio’s retirement.

“I’m no longer going to be in charge. I’m done with that. I’m done with being top banana,” Riggio told the WSJ, adding that he began pulling back in January. (Riggio actually left the position of ceo — the top banana at most companies — in 2002.) “I found peace with my decision…The whole identity crisis comes in. ‘Who am I? How do I leave here?’ All that stuff comes into your head after you spend so many years in one place.”

Separately, Riggio says to the NYT about the company’s failure to prevail in ebooks: “We’re great booksellers; we know how to do that. We weren’t constituted to be a technology company.” Riggio adds, “The company’s in a very good position. We’ll continue to be the best bookseller we can be.”

In a formal statement, Riggio comments: “I intend to remain a shareholder of Barnes & Noble for years to come. I have complete confidence in the management team and their ability to take this Company to the next level of bookselling and I have every intention of offering my help and support. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with our board of directors and I couldn’t be more pleased that Paul has stepped up to take on this new leadership role.”

Filed Under: Bookstores, Finance, Free

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • So Far, Books by Trump Aides Are Mostly...Losers June 23, 2022 Politico
  • Macmillan Nigeria Publisher Charged With Book Fraud June 21, 2022 The Herald
  • All The Exiting Agents Seem to Think ICM's Sale to CAA Will Get Approved Shortly by DOJ June 17, 2022 Deadline
  • Spotify Closes Findaway Acquisition: "Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry" June 17, 2022 Press Release
  • Australian Author John Hughes "Unintentionally" Plagiarized The Great Gatsby And Other Famous Works In His New Novel June 15, 2022 The Guardian
  • Hatewatch Reveals Identities of Anonymous White Nationalist Book Publishers June 14, 2022 Southern Poverty Law Center
  • UK's Emerald Group Sold to Cambridge Information Group June 10, 2022 Press Release
  • Neil Gorsuch Is Writing A Book for HarperCollins, Declares First Advance of $250,000; Coney Barrett Got $425,000 First Advance After Commission June 9, 2022 Disclosure Form
  • New York State Passes Freelance Isn't Free Act June 3, 2022 Authors Guild
  • Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 4 Years for Stealing Book Proceeds from Stormy Daniels June 2, 2022 AP
© 2022 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.