The Nook Isn’t the Only Thing Dragging Down Barnes & Noble

Ailing bookseller Barnes & Noble filed its proxy statement detailing issues for its annual shareholder meeting in September. As part of that filing, the company listed various business relationships it has with other firms that have a connection to Barnes & Noble. Interestingly, the list was chock-full of ties to companies that are at least partly owned by founder Leonard Riggio or his family, for which Barnes & Noble paid more than $160 million in the 2012 fiscal year. Earlier this year, Riggio offered to take the retail store portion of the company private.