Barnes & Noble announced today that CEO William Lynch is resigning effective immediately.  Lynch, who joined the company in 2009 after leaving a post at the Home Shopping Network, had championed Barnes & Noble’s digital initiatives including the development of the Nook tablet and e-reader.  The Nook division has been a consistent drain on the company’s bottom line and Barnes & Noble recently announced that it would stop making the color Nook tablets (see "Nook Dragging Down Barnes & Noble").
 
Barnes & Noble is not naming a replacement CEO at this time.  Chief Financial Officer Michael Huseby will take over as CEO of Nook Media LLC.  Huseby joined B&N in March of 2012 after leaving a similar post at Cablevision.  Controller Allen Lindstrom will become the new CFO and Deadline reports that Max Roberts, the CEO of B&N’s college division will continue as head of the company’s digital education strategy and report to Huseby.  Huseby and Mitchell Klipper CEO of Barnes & Noble Retail Group will both report to B&N Executive Chairman Leonard Riggio.
 
Barnes & Noble shares dropped 4.6% in after hours trading once news of the executive changes was released.