Leonard S. Riggio (Feb. 28, 1941, Bronx, N.Y. - ) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businesspersonA businessperson is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically, someone who is involved in the management of a company, or even an entrepreneur...
and
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
. He is the largest share holder of the book store chain
Barnes & NobleBarnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered in lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan...
, which was the largest specialty retailer in the world. As of May 5 2009, the company operated 777 stores in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Born in the Bronx, Riggio grew up in New York City. He attended
Brooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
, graduating in 1958, followed by
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Leonard S. Riggio (Feb. 28, 1941, Bronx, N.Y. - ) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businesspersonA businessperson is someone who is employed at usually a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically, someone who is involved in the management of a company, or even an entrepreneur...
and
entrepreneurAn entrepreneur is a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. It is an ambitious leader who combines land, labor, and capital to often create and market new goods or services. ... The term is a loanword...
. He is the largest share holder of the book store chain
Barnes & NobleBarnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered in lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan...
, which was the largest specialty retailer in the world. As of May 5 2009, the company operated 777 stores in 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Career
Born in the Bronx, Riggio grew up in New York City. He attended
Brooklyn Technical High SchoolBrooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech or just Tech, and also administratively as High School 430, is a New York City public high school that specializes in engineering, math and science and is the largest specialized high school for science, technology, engineering, and...
, graduating in 1958, followed by
New York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. While at NYU, Riggio founded the Student Book Exchange in 1965 and turned this small book store into a leading retailer. He acquired the venerable Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York in 1971 and adopted its name for his expanding company. Through the years, he acquired hundreds of bookstores and launched the Barnes & Noble superstore concept with an in-store coffee shop and spacious reading alcoves. In addition, Riggio launched barnesandnoble.com to compete with Amazon for on-line book sales and launched a successful video game retail operation including GameStop, Babbages Etc. and Funcoland. By the end of the twentieth century, Riggio had built Barnes & Noble into the largest book seller in the world. Since 1985, Mr. Riggio has been Chairman of the Board and "a principal beneficial owner of MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc." based in Columbia, Missouri, one of the nation's largest wholesalers of college textbook.
Expansion
Over time he expanded the business, and eventually spun Barnes & Noble out of that college bookstore chain.
Awards
Leonard Riggio's awards include the Americanism Award from the
Anti-Defamation LeagueThe Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States of America. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and...
League in November 2000. This award is the ADL's highest honor.
Personal
Leonard Riggio is the benefactor of many community organizations and charities including New York University and the Dia Beacon art museum in Beacon, New York. He also established
Project Home Again to assist residents of
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
, who were affected by
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States...
. Project Home Again will spend $20 million from the Riggio Foundation to build new homes in the
GentillyGentilly may refer to:France* Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, a commune of the Val-de-Marne départementCanada* Gentilly, Quebec, a suburb of the city of Bécancour** Gentilly Nuclear Generating StationUnited States...
neighborhood of New Orleans. The pilot phase involves building 20 new homes on St. Bernard Avenue.
[1] http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/barnes_nobles_chairman_follows.html