barnesandnoble.com Appoints ThreeIndependent Directors To Its Board; Jan-Michiel Hessels of Vendex KBB,
Bob Pittman of America Online, William F. Reilly of PRIMEDIA
Business Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 17, 1999--barnesandnoble.com
(Nasdaq: BNBN) announced today the appointment of three independent
directors to the company's board of directors. They are: Jan-Michiel
Hessels, chairman of the managing board of Vendex KBB; Bob Pittman,
president and chief operating officer of America Online, Inc.; and
William F. Reilly, chairman and chief executive officer of PRIMEDIA
Inc.
"We are extremely pleased to have such outstanding business
leaders on our board of directors," said Leonard Riggio, chairman of
the board of barnesandnoble.com. "They have an extraordinary depth of
knowledge and experience in retail, Internet services, and specialty
media, and they will be invaluable as we continue our fast-paced
growth as one of the world's leading e-commerce retailers."
Jan-Michiel Hessels is chairman and chief executive officer of
Vendex KBB, a Netherlands-based company with over 2,600 stores in the
The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and the U.S.,
primarily department and specialty retail stores. Mr. Hessels joined
Vendex International N.V. in 1990 as vice chairman of the managing
board and assumed the position of chairman and chief executive officer
later that year. Vendex International was restructured from a
family-owned conglomerate to a diversified public company through an
initial public offering (IPO) in 1995. Thereafter, the company was
transformed into three separately listed independent companies,
including Vendex KBB. From 1990 through July 1999, Mr. Hessels served
on the board of Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Bob Pittman is president and chief operating officer of America
Online, Inc. (AOL) and a member of its board of directors. Mr. Pittman
oversees the day-to-day operations of the world's leader in branded
interactive services with more than 19 million paying members in its
combined online services, tens of millions of users of its Web
products and over $5 billion in annual revenues. He joined AOL as
president and chief executive officer of its AOL Networks unit in
October 1996 and was appointed president and chief operating officer
in February 1998. Perhaps best known as the programmer who created
MTV, Mr. Pittman has charted new ground in radio, television and cable
network programming; the theme park industry; and real estate. At the
same time, he built branded consumer businesses as the chief executive
officer of MTV Networks, Quantum Media, Time Warner Enterprises, Six
Flags Entertainment, and CENTURY 21 Real Estate Corporation. Mr.
Pittman currently serves on the boards of directors of America Online,
Inc., Cendant Corporation, the New York University School of Medicine,
The Robin Hood Foundation, Millsaps College, and the New York
Shakespeare Festival.
William F. Reilly is chairman and chief executive officer of
PRIMEDIA Inc. (formerly K-III Communications Corporation), a New
York-based specialty media company he founded. Its properties include
Channel One Network, New York, Chicago, Seventeen, Modern Bride, and
American Baby. Mr. Reilly has been a leader in media and publishing
since he became president of Macmillan, Inc. in 1980. He began his
business career in 1964 as a financial analyst at W.R. Grace & Co. in
New York. Before leaving the company in 1980, Mr. Reilly was, in
succession, president and chief executive officer of the company's
Textile, Herman's World of Sports Goods, and Home Center divisions. He
is a member of the board of directors of FMC Corporation and is active
in a number of New York City civic and philanthropic endeavors,
including Citymeals-on-Wheels, The New York Partnership, and Channel
13/WNET.
These appointments complete the board of directors of
barnesandnoble.com. The other directors are Mr. Leonard Riggio
(chairman), Mr. Michael N. Rosen, Mr. Stephen Riggio, Dr. Thomas
Middelhoff, Mr. Markus Wilhelm, and Dr.Klaus Eierhoff.
About barnesandnoble.com
Since launching its online business in May 1997,
barnesandnoble.com (Nasdaq: BNBN) quickly has become one of the
world's largest Web sites and is the fifth largest e-commerce
retailer, according to Media Metrix. Focused largely on the sale of
books and related products, the company has capitalized on the
recognized brand value of the Barnes & Noble name to become the
second-largest, and one of the fastest growing, online distributors of
books.
Customers can choose from millions of new and out-of-print titles
and enjoy a variety of related content such as author chats, book
synopses and reader reviews. The site also offers thousands of bargain
books discounted up to 91 percent, the most popular software and
magazine titles, as well as gift items for every occasion.
barnesandnoble.com recently announced the launch of its Music Store,
featuring the first online classical music superstore. With access to
Barnes & Noble's more than 750,000 in-stock titles, barnesandnoble.com
has the largest standing inventory of any online bookseller ready for
immediate delivery. The URL, bn.com , makes finding the site
easy, and its Express Lane single-click ordering process ensures fast
and convenient purchasing.
The barnesandnoble.com affiliate network has more than 160,000
members and the company maintains strategic alliances with major Web
portals and content sites, such as AOL, Lycos and MSN. The company is
also a leader in business-to-business e-commerce with its unique
Business Solutions program.
--30--bk/ny*
CONTACT: barnesandnoble.com
Gus Carlson
VP, Corporate Communications
212/414-6014
gcarlson@book.com
KEYWORD: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET COMED RETAIL
COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS MANAGEMENT CHANGES |
