Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch resigns
US bookstore chain Barnes & Noble has announced that its chief executive William Lynch has resigned.
The announcement follows recent news that sales of the company‘s Nook e-reader fell 34% in the fourth quarter as it struggled to compete with Amazon’s Kindle. The company is now rethinking its strategy for the e-reader business.
In the same announcement, Barnes & Noble said that Michael Huseby had been appointed as chief executive of Nook Media and president of Barnes & Noble. Huseby has served as chief financial officer since joining Barnes & Noble in March 2012.
Max Roberts, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble College will continue to lead the company’s digital education strategy, reporting to Huseby.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Leonard Riggio, Barnes & Noble chairman, said: “We thank William Lynch for helping transform Barnes & Noble into a leading digital content provider and for leading in the development of our award-winning line of Nook products including Nook Simple Touch, Nook Simple Touch Glowlight and Nook HD and Nook HD+.”
Riggio added that the company is in the process of reviewing its current strategic plan and will provide an update when appropriate.
Mitchell Klipper, chief executive of the Barnes & Noble Retail Group, will report directly to Riggio.
Lynch said: “I appreciate the opportunity to serve as CEO of this terrific company over the last three years. There is a great executive team and Board in place at Barnes & Noble, and I look forward to the many innovations the company will be bringing to its millions of physical and digital media customers in the future.”
