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Leonard S. Riggio (born February 28, 1941)
''
''BOXREC'' His brother, Steve Riggio, was CEO of the Barnes & Noble chain of bookstores until his replacement by William Lynch in 2010.
Project Home Again website
/ref> Project Home Again will spend $20 million from the Riggio Foundation to build new homes in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The pilot phase involves building 20 new homes on St. Bernard Avenue. On November 10, 2011, the program cut the ribbon on its 101st home. In addition to rebuilding the homes, the Riggios, through a partnership with Rooms to Go, also furnished the homes. On November 24, 2012, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu awarded the Riggios keys to the City of New Orleans at a City Council meeting.Moran, Kate (February 27, 2008)
"Barnes & Noble Chairman Follows His Heart, Opens His Wallet"
'' The Times-Picayune''. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
"What's Barnes & Noble's Survival Plan? Former CEO Cuts Holding to 20%, but Says, 'The Story Isn't Written Yet'"
''The Wall Street Journal'', April 18, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Riggio, Leonard 1941 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American booksellers American company founders American chairpersons of corporations American businesspeople in retailing American racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from New York (state) Barnes & Noble Businesspeople from New York City Living people American patrons of the arts Patrons of schools People from the Bronx New York University Stern School of Business alumni Brooklyn Technical High School alumni People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Leonard S. Riggio (born February 28, 1941)''
Business Week
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
''. June 29, 1998. Retrieved August 17, 2009. is a retired American businessman and entrepreneur. He served as executive chairman of book store chain Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
and was its largest shareholder from 1971 until the sale of the company to the hedge fund Elliott Advisors in 2019. Under his leadership the company expanded significantly from a single retail location on 105 Fifth Avenue, New York to a nationwide chain with 600+ stores, which it did with acquisitions and mergers of competing chain stores.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Riggio attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating in 1958, followed by evening classes at New York University. His father, Steve Riggio, was a professional boxer who twice defeated Rocky Graziano."Record: Steve Riggio"''BOXREC'' His brother, Steve Riggio, was CEO of the Barnes & Noble chain of bookstores until his replacement by William Lynch in 2010.
Career
While at New York University, Riggio founded the Student Book Exchange in 1965 and turned this small book store into a leading retailer. He acquired the Barnes & Noble bookstore in New York City in 1971 and adopted its name for his expanding company. He acquired hundreds of bookstores through the years and launched the Barnes & Noble superstore concept with an in-store coffee shop and spacious reading alcoves. Riggio is recognized as being among the first entrepreneurs who turned the elitist world of bookstores into recreational stores. In 1997, Barnes & Noble had 483 superstores, 528 mall-based B. Daltons, and sales went up to $2.8 billion. The company went public in 1993. Riggio launched barnesandnoble.com to compete with Amazon.com for online book sales and launched a successful video game retail operation, which grew to becomeGameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...
. By the end of the 20th century, Riggio had built Barnes & Noble into the world's largest bookseller.
Since 1985 Riggio has been Chairman of the Board and 49% owner of MBS Textbook Exchange, Inc. based in Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
, Missouri. MBS is one of the nation's largest wholesalers of college textbooks.
Awards
Riggio's awards include the Americanism Award from theAnti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
in November 2000. This award is the ADL's highest honor.
Thoroughbred racing
Through his ''nom de course
NOM may refer to:
* National Organization for Marriage
* Natural organic matter
* New Order Mormons
* Nickelodeon Original Movies
* ''Nintendo Official Magazine'', official British Nintendo magazine; now discontinued, superseded by '' Official ...
'' My Meadowview Farm, Leonard Riggio bred and raced horses for Thoroughbred racing. Among his successes, his colt Samraat won the Damon Runyon, Gotham and Withers Stakes.
Philanthropy
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, Louisiana, who were affected byHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005./ref> Project Home Again will spend $20 million from the Riggio Foundation to build new homes in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The pilot phase involves building 20 new homes on St. Bernard Avenue. On November 10, 2011, the program cut the ribbon on its 101st home. In addition to rebuilding the homes, the Riggios, through a partnership with Rooms to Go, also furnished the homes. On November 24, 2012, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu awarded the Riggios keys to the City of New Orleans at a City Council meeting.Moran, Kate (February 27, 2008)
"Barnes & Noble Chairman Follows His Heart, Opens His Wallet"
'' The Times-Picayune''. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
References
Further reading
* Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A."What's Barnes & Noble's Survival Plan? Former CEO Cuts Holding to 20%, but Says, 'The Story Isn't Written Yet'"
''The Wall Street Journal'', April 18, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Riggio, Leonard 1941 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American booksellers American company founders American chairpersons of corporations American businesspeople in retailing American racehorse owners and breeders Philanthropists from New York (state) Barnes & Noble Businesspeople from New York City Living people American patrons of the arts Patrons of schools People from the Bronx New York University Stern School of Business alumni Brooklyn Technical High School alumni People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn