Stephen Riggio Named CEO of Barnes & Noble

Posted on February 15, 2002

Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced promotions of three senior executives to key management positions. Stephen Riggio has been appointed chief executive officer, replacing his brother Leonard Riggio, who will continue as Chairman. Mitchell Klipper has been named chief operating officer. As chairman of the Board of Directors, Leonard Riggio will continue to oversee strategic initiatives, while Steve Riggio and Mitchell Klipper will have complete responsibility for the company's day-to-day operations, including financial performance and investor relations.

The third promotion is Alan Kahn, who has been named president of the Barnes & Noble Publishing Group. The New York Times reported that the company is looking to expand its book publishing business. This will lead to increased competition with the publishers it sells books for in its online store and book chains.

"The time has come to set the stage for the next phase of the company's remarkable growth in bookselling," said Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "Steve, Mitchell, and Alan have both the experience and skills to bolster our performance in all phases of our enterprise: retail bookselling, electronic commerce, and publishing and product development. More importantly, they work well together as a team, and they enjoy the respect and admiration of our entire organization."

Steve Riggio has spent more than 25 years in bookselling, joining Barnes & Noble in 1975. He started in the buying and merchandising departments of what was then a fifty-store company. Steve was responsible for the company's entry into electronic commerce, resulting in the creation of Barnes & Noble.com, which became a public company in May 1999. Steve has been a Barnes & Noble, Inc. board member since 1993, and since 1997, has been its vice chairman. More recently, he served as acting chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble.com until February 2002, when Marie Toulantis was named to replace him. He remains a vice chairman of Barnes & Noble.com.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. operates 582 Barnes & Noble and 328 B. Dalton bookstores, and GameStop (formerly Babbage's), an operator of video game and entertainment software stores with 1,011 stores. Barnes & Noble is also one of the largest online booksellers through its bn.com website. Barnes & Noble also publishes books under its own imprint for exclusive sale through its retail stores and website.