Barnes & Noble to Pay Former CEO $4.8 Million

Former Barnes & Noble CEO Ron Boire will be getting $4,825,600 from the bookstore chain to settle all issues related to his dismissal in August after just a year on the job. In exchange for the payment, Boire agreed to forfeit all stock awards. That included 368,098 shares he was granted last September when he became CEO; 143,540 restricted stock units; and another 143,540 performance-based shares.

Total Retail’s Take: Well, that softens the blow a bit. Boire made out with a payday four times his annual salary after being deemed “not a good fit” for Barnes & Noble. The company’s founder, Leonard Riggio, came out of retirement to serve as interim CEO and will keep this position while the company looks for a new leader. Riggio said the company won't rush to pick a new chief, and will look for an executive with some understanding of specialty retailing rather than a person with just a broad retail background.