Leonard Riggio, founder and former chairman of Barnes & Noble, Inc., has died following a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83.
Len, as he was known, is survived by his wife of 43 years, Louise, his three devoted daughters, Lisa Rollo (Christopher) of Jupiter, Florida, Donna Cortese (Steven) of Oyster Bay, New York, and Stephanie Bulger (Michael) of Bridgehampton, New York. He is also survived by his loving brother Stephen (Laura) of New York City, along with four grandsons, Steven, Anthony and Joseph Cortese and Leo Bulger, nieces Laura Nayar (Karan) and Christina Fitzsimmons (Michael) and nephew, Jake Riggio. He was preceded in death by his parents, Stephen and Lena Riggio, his brother Vincent “Jimi” Riggio (Joann Riggio), and niece, Melissa Ann Riggio.
A true son of New York, Mr. Riggio was born in Manhattan’s Little Italy before spending his formative years in Brooklyn where he attended Brooklyn Technical High School, which he graduated from in 1958 at the age of 16 having skipped two grades. He began attending night school at New York University, quickly deciding that his time was better spent climbing the ranks in the college bookstore (where he began as a stock boy) than sitting in class. His decision proved to be a fruitful one. Mr. Riggio was a quick study and rapidly rose through the ranks thanks to his tenacity, charisma, and preternatural sense of the retail experience. Known for his entrepreneurial spirit and financial acumen, he became a pioneer in the retail world.
In addition to Barnes & Noble Booksellers, the largest operator of retail bookstores, Mr. Riggio also founded Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, the largest operator of college campus bookstores, MBS Textbook Exchange, the largest wholesale textbook distributor, and GameStop, the largest operator of videogame and entertainment software stores. At the pinnacle of his career, the companies Mr. Riggio operated totaled more than 5,000 retail stores across the 50 states, employing more than 100,000 people and forever changing the retail landscape of America.
Deeply invested in social justice causes hoping to address what he called the unfinished business of the civil rights movement, Mr. Riggio served on the board of the Children’s Defense Fund, where he organized and funded the 1996 Stand for Children March in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, with his wife Louise, he built the Freedom School’s Langston Hughes Library and Riggio-Lynch Chapel at the Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee.
In the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Riggio created Project Home Again, building and giving away 101 homes to families in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, revitalizing and reinvigorating an entire neighborhood that had been ravaged by the storm.
As a tireless advocate for public education, literacy, and the arts, Mr. Riggio funded several important projects including DIA:Beacon, one of the largest contemporary art museums in the world. He also created a Writing and Democracy Program at the New School, an innovative curriculum that explored the intersection between citizenship and rhetorical skills and encompassed 25 full scholarships to the program; the Brooklyn Tech Foundation, the first and largest private endowment for a public high school; and the “Close the Book on Hate” program for the Anti-Defamation League, which issued millions of booklets designed to help guide parents with children who were either victims of hate or felt anger or hatred themselves.
His commitment to promoting equality and diversity earned him numerous awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Frederick Douglass Medallion. In 2002, he received the Americanism Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Anti-Defamation League. The award cited his work “to celebrate diversity and make the dream of freedom and equality a reality for so many Americans.”
Mr. Riggio received honorary degrees from Baruch College of the City University of New York, Bentley College, Adelphi University, Tusculum College, Tennessee Tech University, Kingsborough Community College, and Long Island University. He was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs at Babson College and the Texas A&M University Retail Hall of Fame.
A proud Italian American, Mr. Riggio sat on the board of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and served as the 2017 Grand Marshall for the Italian American Heritage Day Parade in New York City. He was also named the 2002 Borough of Brooklyn Italian American Man of the Year.
As a passionate supporter of and donor to the Democratic Party, Mr. Riggio was one of the founding members of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) Trustees and raised millions for the campaigns of David Dinkins, Charlie Rangel, Bill Bradley, and other prominent democrats, many of whom proudly counted him as a friend and trusted advisor.
A Mass of Christian burial will take place on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 at 10:00 am at The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, 263 Mulberry Street, with a public celebration of Mr. Riggio’s life to be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Alzheimer’s Association.
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