Three high-ranking Barnes & Noble executives who have left the company, or will soon be exiting, earned hefty bonuses in fiscal 2015. According to B&N’s recently-released proxy statement, two execs received over $2 million, while another took away over $600,000.
According to the proxy, former CEO Mike Huseby received a bonus of $2,604,000 in fiscal 2015, and a base salary of $1,200,000. Both the bonus and salary were the same as in fiscal 2014. Huseby has stepped down as CEO and has been named executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Education. His successor Ron Boire, was elected to the B&N board on Friday. Boire will officially join the board when he begins his job as B&N CEO on Sept. 8.
Mitch Klipper took home a $2,399,500 bonus in fiscal 2015, while receiving a base salary of $1,064,080. Klipper, who stepped down as head of the B&N Retail Group this spring, earned a $1,862,140 bonus in fiscal 2014.
Mahesh Veerina, president of Nook Consumer Business, received a $676,500 bonus last year, and a base salary of $600,000. Veerina, who will leave B&N in February, received no bonus in fiscal 2014. In awarding the bonus last year, the proxy cited Veernia’s oversight of Nook’s delivery on “key products” and launch of a new Nook reading app while at the time same time reducing the division’s cost structure. In addition, the proxy said, “Veerina successfully delivered on Microsoft priorities and assisted in negotiating a successful exit from the Microsoft partnership.”
The bonuses, according to B&N, reflect the men’s contribution to stabilizing the business and helping separate the retail group from the college division.
The B&N proxy also listed the major shareholders in B&N. Company founder and chairman Len Riggio controls 15.8% of the company’s stock, while Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owns 6.5% and Daniel Tisch owns 6.4%. Other major stockholders are David Abrams, 5.4% and the Vanguard Group, 5.1%.
