BNED Barnes and Noble Education Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to

Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Filed by the Registrant ☒

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant  ☐

Check the appropriate box:

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2024 Proxy Statement

 

 

120 Mountain View Blvd.

Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920

August 12, 2024

Dear Stockholder:

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), cordially invites you to attend the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”). The Annual Meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on September 18, 2024, by live online webcast only. There will be no physical location for the Annual Meeting.

You will be able to attend the Annual Meeting, vote, and submit your questions during the Annual Meeting via live online webcast by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/BNED2024. You must have your sixteen-digit control number that is shown on your proxy card. You will not be able to attend the meeting in person.

Information about the Annual Meeting and the various matters on which the stockholders will act is included in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and the Proxy Statement. Also included are a proxy card and postage-paid return envelope. The Proxies are being solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company.

Your vote is extremely important no matter how many shares you own. You are urged to read the Proxy Statement carefully and, whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, to promptly submit a proxy: (a) by telephone or the Internet following the instructions on the enclosed proxy card or (b) by signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card in the postage-paid return envelope provided.

The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that you vote (i) FOR the election of each of the Board of Directors’ nominees, (ii) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan to, among other things, increase the number of shares authorized to be issued under the Plan, (iii) FOR the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed in the Proxy Statement, (iv) FOR the ratification of the appointment of BDO USA, P.C. as the independent registered public accountants for the Company’s fiscal year ending May 3, 2025, (v) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, from 10,000,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares, and (vi) FOR the adjournment of the Annual Meeting to a later date, if necessary or appropriate, to allow for the solicitation of additional proxies in the event that there are insufficient votes at the time of the Annual Meeting to approve the other proposals in this Proxy Statement.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on September 18, 2024: The Proxy Statement and the Company’s 2024 Annual Report to Stockholders are available online at www.bned.com.

 

120 Mountain View Blvd.

Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“we,” “us,” “our,” “BNED” or the “Company”), will hold its Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on September 18, 2024, by live online webcast that will be available via www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/BNED2024 for the following purposes:

NOTE: To transact such other business as may be properly brought before the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof.

Only holders of record of Common Stock of the Company as of the close of business on August 6, 2024 are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting and any adjournment or postponement thereof. There will be no physical meeting location, and the meeting will only be conducted by live online webcast, i.e., as a “Virtual Meeting.” Please refer to the instructions in the accompanying Proxy Statement for how to register to attend the Virtual Meeting.

The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that you vote FOR each of the six proposals outlined above and as more fully described in the Proxy Statement.

The Board of Directors urges you to read the Proxy Statement carefully and, whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, to promptly submit a proxy: (a) by telephone or the Internet following the instructions on the enclosed proxy card or (b) by signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card in the postage-paid return envelope provided.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY

The following summary highlights information relating to the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”) and executive compensation and corporate governance matters. Additional information is included in this Proxy Statement.

2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders for Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.

The Board of Directors and management believe that good corporate governance promotes accountability to stockholders, enhances investor confidence in the Company and supports long-term value creation. The Company has implemented and fostered a culture of good corporate governance, which includes the following:

The Board of Directors and management seek to align the executive compensation program with the Company’s business strategy to attract, retain, and engage the talent we need to compete in our industry, and to align management with stockholders’ interests. The table below highlights key aspects of our executive compensation program.

BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.

120 Mountain View Blvd.

Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920

PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

 

INTRODUCTION

This Proxy Statement and enclosed proxy card are being furnished in connection with the solicitation by the Board of Directors (the “Board of Directors” or the “Board”) of Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“we,” “us,” “our,” “BNED” or the “Company”), of proxies for use at its annual meeting of stockholders to be held on September 18, 2024 (the “Annual Meeting”), and any adjournment or postponement thereof for the purposes set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that you vote (i) FOR the election of each of the Board of Directors’ nominees, (ii) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan to, among other things, increase the number of shares authorized to be issued under the Plan, (iii) FOR the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed in the Proxy Statement, (iv) FOR the ratification of the appointment of BDO USA, P.C. as the independent registered public accountants for the Company’s fiscal year ending May 3, 2025, (v) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”), from 10,000,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares, and (vi) FOR the adjournment of the Annual Meeting to a later date, if necessary or appropriate, to allow for the solicitation of additional proxies in the event that there are insufficient votes at the time of the Annual Meeting to approve the other proposals in this Proxy Statement.

Stockholders Entitled to Vote

Only holders of record of the Company’s Common Stock, as of the close of business on August 6, 2024 (the “Record Date”) are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting. As of the Record Date, 26,208,036 shares of Common Stock were outstanding. Each share of Common Stock entitles the record holder thereof to one vote on each matter brought before the Annual Meeting.

This Proxy Statement, the accompanying proxy card, and our 2024 Annual Report are being distributed to stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting on or about August 12, 2024.

How to Vote

Your vote is very important to the Board of Directors no matter how many shares of our Common Stock you own. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote your shares as soon as possible.

If You Are a Registered Holder of Common Stock

If you are a registered holder of Common Stock, you may vote your shares either by voting by proxy in advance of the Annual Meeting or by voting online during the Annual Meeting. By submitting a proxy, you are legally authorizing another person to vote your shares on your behalf.

We urge you to use the enclosed proxy card to vote (i) FOR the election of each of the Board of Directors’ nominees, (ii) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan to, among other things, increase the number of shares authorized to be issued under the Plan, (iii) FOR the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers as disclosed in the Proxy Statement, (iv) FOR the ratification of the appointment of BDO USA, P.C. as the independent registered public accountants for the Company’s fiscal year ending May 3, 2025, (v) FOR the approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of Common Stock from 10,000,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares, and (vi) FOR the adjournment of the Annual Meeting to a later date, if necessary or appropriate, to allow for the solicitation of additional proxies in the event that there are insufficient votes at the time of the Annual Meeting to approve the other proposals in this Proxy Statement.

If you submit your executed proxy card or otherwise vote by telephone or by the Internet, your shares will be voted in accordance with your instructions; however, if you do not indicate how your shares are to be voted on a

properly executed proxy card or when voting over the phone or the Internet, then your shares will be voted in accordance with the Board of Directors’ recommendations set forth in this Proxy Statement. In addition, if any other matters are brought before the Annual Meeting (other than the proposals contained in this Proxy Statement), then the individuals listed on the proxy card will have the authority to vote your shares on those other matters in accordance with their discretion and judgment.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to promptly submit a proxy: (a) by telephone or the Internet following the instructions on the enclosed proxy card or (b) by signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card in the postage-paid return envelope provided. If you later decide to attend the Annual Meeting via the online webcast and vote, that vote will automatically revoke any previously submitted proxy.

If You Hold Your Shares in “Street Name”

If you hold your shares in “street name,” i.e., through a bank, broker or other holder of record (a “custodian”), your custodian is the stockholder of record for purposes of voting and is required to vote your shares on your behalf in accordance with your instructions. If you do not give instructions to your custodian, your custodian will not be permitted to vote your shares with respect to “non-discretionary” or “non-routine” items, which include all matters on the agenda other than the ratification of the appointment of the independent registered public accountants. A “broker non-vote” occurs when a custodian does not vote on a particular proposal because it has not received voting instructions from the applicable beneficial owner and does not have discretionary voting power on the matter in question pursuant to New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) rules or chooses not to exercise discretionary voting power in accordance with its internal policies. Accordingly, we urge you to promptly give instructions to your custodian to vote FOR all items on the agenda by using the voting instruction card provided to you by your custodian. If you intend to vote your shares held in street name online during the Annual Meeting, please contact your custodian in advance of the Annual Meeting to ensure access and the ability to vote.

Voting in the Annual Meeting Webcast

If you plan to attend the Annual Meeting via the online webcast and wish to vote, you will have access to an electronic ballot on the Annual Meeting virtual webcast site. You may vote at the Annual Meeting by clicking on the ‘Stockholder Ballot’ link on the Annual Meeting Webcast site, completing the electronic ballot and clicking ‘Sign and Submit’ to send your completed ballot directly to the Inspector of Election before the polls are closed at the Annual Meeting.

Quorum and Votes Required

Quorum

The presence virtually or by proxy at the Annual Meeting of the holders of shares of Common Stock of the Company having a majority of the voting power of the Common Stock entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will constitute a quorum. Abstentions and broker non-votes will be included in determining whether a quorum is present.

Votes Required and Treatment of Abstentions and Broker Non-Votes

Directors shall be elected by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote thereon who are present virtually or represented by proxy at the Annual Meeting. Abstentions and broker non-votes are not considered votes cast for the foregoing purpose and will have no effect on the election of nominees.

Approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan to, among other things, increase the number of shares authorized to be issued under the Plan requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes will not be included in the votes cast on this proposal and will not have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of this proposal.

With respect to the proposal regarding the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers, the Company will consider the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the proposal as approval of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers (“NEOs”). Abstentions and broker non-votes will not be included in the votes cast on this proposal and will not have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of this proposal.

Ratification of the appointment of BDO USA, P.C. as the Company’s independent registered public accountants requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on the proposal. Abstentions will not be included in the votes cast and, as such, will have no effect on the outcome of this proposal. Your custodian will have discretionary authority to vote on the proposal absent voting instructions.

Approval of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of Common Stock from 10,000,000,000 shares to 200,000,000 shares requires the affirmative vote of a majority of shares present virtually or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the proposal. Abstentions will have the same effect as a vote “against” the proposal, and broker non-votes will not have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of this proposal.

Approval of the adjournment of the Annual Meeting to a later date, if necessary or appropriate, to allow for the solicitation of additional proxies in the event that there are insufficient votes at the time of the Annual Meeting to approve the other proposals in this Proxy Statement requires the affirmative vote of a majority of shares present virtually or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the proposal. Abstentions will have the same effect as a vote “against” the proposal, and broker non-votes will not have a positive or negative effect on the outcome of this proposal.

Attendance at the Annual Meeting

Attendance at the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof will be limited to stockholders of the Company as of the close of business on the Record Date and guests of the Company. You will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person at a physical location. To attend the virtual meeting, you must have your sixteen-digit control number that is shown on your proxy card.

If you have any questions or encounter any difficulties accessing the virtual meeting, please call the technical support number that will be posted on the 2024 Annual Meeting website log-in page. You may log in 15 minutes before the start of the meeting. Stockholders are encouraged to log into the online webcast 15 minutes before the start of the meeting to provide time to test their Internet connectivity and download the required software, if needed.

Even if you wish to attend the virtual meeting, we urge you to cast your vote prior to the meeting using the enclosed proxy card, via the Internet or by telephone. If you choose to vote at the meeting, it will revoke any previous proxy submitted. If you hold your shares in street name and wish to vote during the meeting, please contact your custodian in advance of the Annual Meeting to ensure access and the ability to vote.

How to Revoke Your Proxy

Your proxy is revocable. If you want to change your vote, you may revoke your proxy by: (i) submitting your vote at a later time via the Internet or telephone; (ii) submitting a properly signed proxy card with a later date that is received at or prior to the Annual Meeting; (iii) attending the Annual Meeting and voting online during the meeting (if you do revoke your proxy during the meeting, it will not, of course, affect any vote that has already been taken); or (iv) providing a signed letter of revocation to the Corporate Secretary of the Company before the closing of the polls at the Annual Meeting.

Fiscal Year

Our fiscal year is comprised of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of April. “Fiscal 2025” means the 53 weeks ending May 3, 2025, “Fiscal 2024” means the 52 weeks ended April 27, 2024, “Fiscal 2023” means the 52 weeks ended April 29, 2023, and “Fiscal 2022” means the 52 weeks ended April 30, 2022.

PROPOSAL ONE: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Introduction

All seven of our current directors are standing for re-election. The Company strives to maintain a Board with broad and diverse experience and judgment. Diversity is considered in a broad sense, including, among other attributes, leadership, experience, skills, perspectives, gender, ethnicity and geography. The grid below summarizes the key qualifications, skills and attributes each of our directors possesses that were most relevant to the decision to nominate him or her to serve on the Board. The lack of a checkmark does not mean the director does not possess that qualification or skill; rather a checkmark indicates a specific area of focus or expertise on which the Board relies most heavily. In addition, more than 50% of our directors are women or racial or ethnic minorities. Our director nominees exhibit high integrity, innovative thinking, a proven record of success, and knowledge of corporate governance. The director nominees bring a balance of important skills to our boardroom.

Information Concerning the Directors and the Board of Directors’ Nominees

Background information with respect to the Board of Directors’ nominees for election as directors as of August 6, 2024 appears below. See “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” for information regarding such persons’ holdings of equity securities of the Company.

Nominees for Election as Director

The following individuals are nominees for director at the Annual Meeting. The nominees elected at the Annual Meeting will serve for a term ending on the date of the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders and until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote FOR each of the below nominees for director using the enclosed proxy card.

William C. Martin was appointed as Chairman of the Board in June 2024. Mr. Martin joined Immersion Corporation’s board of directors in August 2019 and has served as its Chief Strategy Officer since December 2021. Mr. Martin has extensive experience as a board member, investor, and entrepreneur. He previously ran a private investment fund for Raging Capital Management from 2006 to 2020 that is currently being wound down. As an

entrepreneur, he co-founded a number of financial information companies, including Raging Bull in 1997 and InsiderScore in 2004. Mr. Martin has served on numerous public company boards, including nine years on the board of Bankrate, Inc., a consumer finance company, which was acquired in 2009; the board of Salary.com, Inc., a compensation data and software company, which was acquired in 2010; and the board of Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., a semiconductor company, which was acquired in 2015. Mr. Martin also manages his personal family office, Raging Capital Ventures.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills: Mr. Martin’s extensive experience and successful track record as an investor, entrepreneur and public company director enables him to provide the Board and management with valuable perspectives on our operations, capital allocation strategies and other corporate strategies to maximize stockholder value. Mr. Martin also has a long track record of investing in publicly traded companies and actively engaging in certain investments. As a result, Mr. Martin brings the perspective of a stockholder to the Board that is critical in creating and implementing strategies that increase stockholder value.

Emily S. Hoffman was appointed as a director in June 2024. Ms. Hoffman has served as a member of the board of directors of Immersion Corporation since 2023. Ms. Hoffman currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer of SmartPak Equine LLC, an e-commerce retailer and indirect, wholly-owned, subsidiary of Covetrus, Inc., a role she has held since January 2024. Prior to this, she held U.S. and Global marketing roles at Nestle Health Science from 2017 through 2024. Prior to 2017, Ms. Hoffman held various positions at several multinational companies, including BlackRock, Johnson & Johnson and General Mills. Ms. Hoffman has a track record of driving financial, operational and strategic results across complex B2C and B2B portfolios in highly regulated industries in the U.S. and internationally. Ms. Hoffman has a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills: Ms. Hoffman brings to the Board years of experience delivering financial (P&L), operational, and strategic results across a diverse set of industries including Healthcare, Health & Wellness, Vitamins & Supplements, Food, Consumer, OTC, eCommerce and Financial Services. Ms. Hoffman brings significant management experience leading and expanding businesses both in the U.S. and internationally.

Sean Vijay Madnani was appointed as a director in June 2024. Mr. Madnani has served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twist Capital LLC (“Twist Capital”), an investment company, since September 2019. Previously and in connection with his service at Twist Capital, Mr. Madnani served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors of Twist Investment Corp. (intended to be listed as NYSE: TWIC.U), an unlisted blank check special purpose acquisition company, from February 2021 until its dissolution in December 2022. Prior to founding Twist Capital, Mr. Madnani served as a Senior Advisor at Guggenheim Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer and subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners LLC, from September 2019 to March 2020, and a Senior Managing Director, from June 2015 to August 2019. Prior to that, Mr. Madnani served in a number of senior roles at Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX), an alternative investment management company, from July 2005 to June 2015, including most recently as Senior Managing Director, Partner, and Head of Technology M&A for the Western United States and Asia-Pacific. Earlier in his career, Mr. Madnani served as an investment banker at Lazard Inc. (NYSE: LAZ), a global financial advisory and asset management firm, from July 2000 to May 2005. Mr. Madnani started his career as a software developer within the cooperative education program at International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM). Mr. Madnani holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with a minor in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Madnani has been a member of the board of trustees for the non-profit organization Hollywood Schoolhouse Inc. since October 2021, and a member of the campaign steering committee for Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego since October 2019.

Mr. Madnani previously served as an observer on the boards of directors of Blackboxstocks, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLBX), a SaaS financial analytics company, from May 2022 to June 2022 and On the Fly Inc. (d/b/a Wingtip), an e-commerce retailer for men’s clothing and apparel, from November 2014 to June 2022. In addition, Mr. Madnani previously served on the boards of directors for the Los Angeles Opera Company from April 2018 through March 2021, and The Wang Center for the Performing Arts Inc. from September 2012 through May 2016.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills: Mr. Madnani’s extensive experience serving as a senior executive in the financial industry, with a focus on the technology sector, coupled with his significant investment and financial accounting expertise, including extensive merger and acquisition experience, makes him well-qualified to serve on the Board.

Elias N. Nader was appointed as a director in June 2024. Mr. Nader has served as a member of the board of directors of Immersion Corporation since 2022. Mr. Nader has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance of QuickLogic Corporation (Nasdaq: QUIK), a publicly traded fabless semiconductor company, since February 1, 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Nader served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Pixelworks, Inc. (Nasdaq: PXLW), a publicly traded video processing semiconductor company, from September 2019 to January 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Nader served as the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Sigma Designs, Inc., a publicly traded semiconductor company that designed solutions for home connectivity, IPTV, HDTV and media processors, from January 2018 to September 2019, and as Sigma’s Chief Financial Officer from April 2014 to January 2023. Mr. Nader has Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and an MBA in International Business from San Jose State University.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills: Mr. Nader brings to the Board extensive financial and management experience with publicly traded companies, which enables him to contribute significantly to the Board in the area of finance and accounting.

Eric B. Singer was appointed as a director in June 2024. Mr. Singer has served as a member of the board of directors of Immersion Corporation since March 2020, as Immersion Corporation’s Executive Chairman from August 2020 to January 2023, and as Immersion Corporation’s Chairman of the board of directors since January 2023. Since December 2023, Mr. Singer has served as a director of Universal Electronics, a global leader in wireless universal control solutions for home entertainment and smart home devices. Since July 2019, Mr. Singer has served as a director of A10 Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ATEN), an application controller and firewall cloud security company, and has served as its lead independent director since September 2021. Mr. Singer was a founder and Managing Member of VIEX Capital Advisors, a securities investment firm. In addition to a long track record as a successful investor in technology companies, Mr. Singer has substantial experience serving on public boards and assisting them in creating and expanding stockholder value. Mr. Singer previously served on the boards of directors of Quantum Corporation, a video data storage and management company, Numerex Corp., a provider of managed machine-to-machine enterprise solutions enabling the Internet of Things, RhythmOne plc and YuMe, Inc., each a provider of brand video advertising software and audience data, Support.com, Inc., a provider of tech support and support center services, Meru Networks, Inc., a Wi-Fi network solutions company, PLX Technology, Inc., a PCI Express and ethernet semiconductor company, and Sigma Designs, Inc., an integrated circuit provider for the home entertainment market, among other companies. Mr. Singer has a B.A. from Brandeis University.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills: Mr. Singer has specific attributes that qualify him to serve as a member of the Board, including his extensive financial and operating experience and knowledge of the technology industry gained through his service on numerous public company boards. Mr. Singer also has a long track record of investing in publicly traded companies and actively engaging with certain investments. As a result, Mr. Singer brings the perspective of a stockholder to the Board that is critical in creating and implementing strategies that increase stockholder value.

Kathryn (“Kate”) Eberle Walker was appointed as a director in July 2022 and thereafter was elected as a director at the 2022 and 2023 annual meetings of stockholders. Since 2019, Ms. Walker has been the Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of Presence Learning Inc., a provider of special education teletherapy solutions. From 2015 to 2017, she served as Chief Executive Officer of The Princeton Review and Tutor.com, and its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer from 2014 to 2015. Ms. Walker has managed strategy and investments for Kaplan, Inc. Ms. Walker began her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. She currently serves as a Director of Babbel, Testing Mom and Prospect Schools, and as a Trustee of the International School of Brooklyn. Ms. Walker previously served on the Board of Directors of Rosetta Stone from 2019 until the company’s acquisition by Cambium Learning Group Inc. in 2020.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills. Ms. Walker has over 20 years of experience leading education organizations and brings extensive board service with companies in the education industry. Ms. Walker’s experience also allows her to bring to the Board of Directors skills in diversity, equity and inclusion, management strategy, transactions, finance, leadership, change management and education technology.

Denise Warren was appointed as a director in July 2022 and thereafter was elected as a director at the 2022 and 2023 annual meetings of stockholders. Since 2016, she has also served as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Netlyst, LLC, a consulting and advisory firm that focuses on digital business growth and scaling consumer and enterprise recurring revenue streams. Prior to founding Netlyst, Ms. Warren served as the President of Digital and

Chief Executive Officer of East Coast Publishing for Tribune Publishing from 2015 to 2016. For more than 25 years, she served in numerous capacities at The New York Times Company including as Executive Vice President of Digital Products and Services; General Manager, nytimes.com; Chief Advertising Officer; Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning; and Director of Marketing. Ms. Warren currently serves as an independent Director and member of the audit committee of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE: TMHC), and as an independent director on the board of directors of Naviga, a Vista Equity partners backed software technology company, and accelerate360, a privately backed omni-commerce sales, distribution, logistics, marketing and media company. She previously served as a Director and Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee of Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., a publicly traded provider of design assets, technology and expertise, and as a Director and member of the audit committee of Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA), a publicly traded digital interactive entertainment company.

Qualifications, Experience, Attributes and Skills. Ms. Warren’s long experience in operating profitable recurring revenue businesses and driving transformative change in digital operations, consumer marketing, sales and product development at the strategic, operational and financial levels of digital marketing, business operations and corporate governance make her well qualified to serve on the Board of Directors.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE FOR THE

ELECTION OF EACH NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR NAMED ABOVE USING THE ENCLOSED PROXY

CARD.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Meetings and Committees of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors then in office met fifteen (15) times during Fiscal 2024. All directors then in office attended at least 75% of all meetings of the Board of Directors and committees of which he or she was a member.

Director Independence

Based on the information supplied to it by the directors, the Board has affirmatively determined that each of Kathryn Eberle Walker, Sean Vijay Madnani, Denise Warren, Elias N. Nader and Emily S. Hoffman is “independent” under the listing standards of the NYSE (the “NYSE Listing Standards”), and has made such determinations based on the fact that none of such persons have had, or currently have, any relationship with the Company or its affiliates or any executive officer of the Company or his or her affiliates, that would currently impair their independence, including, without limitation, any such commercial, industrial, banking, consulting, legal, accounting, charitable or familial relationship.

Board Committees

The Board currently has four standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. In August 2023, the Board of Directors formed the Alternative Transactions Committee (the “ATC”) as a special committee to review and evaluate potential strategic alternatives available to the Company, pursuant to the terms of the Eighth Amendment to Credit Agreement, dated as of July 28, 2023, among the Company, as the lead borrower, the other borrowers party thereto, the lenders party thereto and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent for the lenders, to the Credit Agreement, dated as of August 3, 2015. Upon the closing of the refinancing and recapitalization transactions on June 10, 2024, the ATC was dissolved, in accordance with its charter. On June 10, 2024, the Board of Directors formed the Strategy and Operational Review Committee (the “SORC”), as a special committee to review, among other things, the Company’s operational performance, cost structure and margin improvement opportunities, organizational structure as well as exploring all other available shareholder value creation levers. Mr. Singer (Chair) and Mr. Martin currently serve as the sole members of the SORC.

Audit Committee.

The responsibilities of the Audit Committee include, among other duties:

The Board of Directors has adopted a written charter setting out the functions of the Audit Committee, a copy of which is available on the Company’s website at www.bned.com and is available in print to any stockholder who requests it in writing directed to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

The members of the Audit Committee currently are Sean Vijay Madnani (Chair), Kathryn Eberle Walker, and Denise Warren. Each of the Audit Committee members meets the independence standards of the NYSE Listing Standards, the independence standards established by the SEC for audit committee members and our Corporate Governance Guidelines. The Board of Directors has also determined that each of Mr. Madnani, Ms. Walker and Ms. Warren is financially literate for purposes of the NYSE Listing Standards, and Mr. Madnani has the requisite attributes of an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by regulations promulgated by the SEC and that such attributes were acquired through relevant education and/or experience.

The members of the Audit Committee then in office met six (6) times during Fiscal 2024.

Compensation Committee.

The responsibilities of the Compensation Committee include, among other duties:

The Board of Directors has adopted a written charter setting out the functions of the Compensation Committee, a copy of which is available on the Company’s website at www.bned.com and is available in print to any stockholder who requests it in writing directed to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

The members of the Compensation Committee currently are Elias N. Nader (Chair), Emily S. Hoffman, and Sean Vijay Madnani. Each of the Compensation Committee members meets the independence standards of the NYSE Listing Standards and our Corporate Governance Guidelines. All members of the Compensation Committee are “non-employee directors” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

The members of the Compensation Committee then in office met three (3) times during Fiscal 2024. The Compensation Committee previously engaged Mercer, an independent consulting firm, to provide information, analyses and advice regarding executive compensation and other matters. For further discussion of the nature and scope of the independent compensation consultant’s assignment, see the “Compensation Overview,” “Roles of the Compensation Committee, Management, and our Compensation Consultant in Determining the Compensation of our Named Executive Officers” and “Role of the Compensation Consultant” sections of this Proxy Statement.

Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee.

The responsibilities of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee include, among other duties:

The Board of Directors has adopted a written charter setting out the functions of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, a copy of which is available on the Company’s website at www.bned.com and is available in print to any stockholder who requests it in writing directed to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

The members of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee currently are Emily S. Hoffman (Chair), Sean Vijay Madnani and Elias N. Nader. Each of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee members meets the independence requirements set forth in the NYSE Listing Standards and our Corporate Governance Guidelines. The members of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee then in office met three (3) times during Fiscal 2024.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The members of our Compensation Committee during Fiscal 2024 were David G. Golden (Chair), Kathryn Eberle Walker, Vice Admiral John R. Ryan and Rory D. Wallace. None of Mr. Golden, Ms. Walker, Vice Admiral Ryan, or Mr. Wallace has ever been an officer of the Company or had been an employee of the Company during Fiscal 2024, and none of them had a relationship requiring disclosure in this Proxy Statement under Item 404 of SEC Regulation S-K. None of the Company’s executive officers serve, or in Fiscal 2024 served, as a member of the Board of Directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more of its executive officers serving as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors or the Company’s Compensation Committee.

Director Qualifications and Nominations

Minimum Qualifications

The Company does not set specific criteria for directors except to the extent required to meet applicable legal, regulatory and stock exchange requirements, including, but not limited to, the independence requirements of the NYSE Listing Standards and the SEC, as applicable. Nominees for director will be selected on the basis of outstanding achievement in their personal careers, board experience, wisdom, integrity, ability to make independent and analytical inquiries, understanding of the business environment, and willingness to devote adequate time to Board of Directors duties. While the selection of qualified directors is a complex and subjective process that requires consideration of many intangible factors, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee believes that each director should have a basic understanding of (a) the principal operational and financial objectives and plans and strategies of the Company, (b) the results of operations and financial condition of the Company and of any significant subsidiaries or businesses, and (c) the relative standing of the Company and its businesses in relation to its competitors.

The Company does not have a specific policy regarding the diversity of the Board of Directors. Instead, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee considers the Board of Directors’ overall composition when considering director candidates, including whether the Board of Directors has an appropriate combination of professional experience, skills, knowledge and variety of viewpoints and backgrounds in light of the Company’s current and expected future needs. In addition, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee also believes that it is desirable for new candidates to contribute to a variety of viewpoints on the Board of Directors, which may be enhanced by a mix of different professional and personal backgrounds and experiences.

Nominating Process

Although the process for identifying and evaluating candidates to fill vacancies and/or reduce or expand the Board of Directors will inevitably require a practical approach in light of the particular circumstances at such time, the Board of Directors has adopted the following process to guide the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee in this respect. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is willing to consider candidates submitted by a variety of sources (including incumbent directors, stockholders (as described below), Company management and independent third-party search firms) when reviewing candidates to fill vacancies and/or expand the Board of Directors. If a vacancy arises or the Board of Directors decides to expand its membership, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee may ask each director to submit a list of potential candidates for consideration. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee then evaluates each potential candidate’s educational background, employment history, outside commitments and other relevant factors to determine whether he or she is potentially qualified to serve on the Board of Directors. At that time, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee also will consider potential nominees submitted by stockholders, if any, in accordance with the procedures described below, or by the Company’s management and, if the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee deems it necessary, retain an independent third-party search firm to provide potential candidates. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee seeks to identify and recruit the best available candidates, and it intends to evaluate qualified stockholder nominees on the same basis as those submitted by Board of Directors members, Company management, independent third-party search firms or other sources.

After completing this process, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will determine whether one or more candidates are sufficiently qualified to warrant further investigation. If the process yields one or more desirable candidate(s), the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will rank them by order of preference, depending on their respective qualifications and the Company’s needs. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee Chair will then contact the preferred candidate(s) to evaluate their potential interest and to set up interviews with the full Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. All such interviews include only the candidate and one or more Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee members. Based upon interview results and appropriate background checks, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee then decides whether it will recommend the candidate’s nomination to the full Board of Directors.

When nominating a sitting director for re-election, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will consider the director’s performance on the Board of Directors and its committees and the director’s qualifications in respect of the criteria referred to above.

Consideration of Stockholder-Nominated Directors

In accordance with its charter, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will consider candidates for election to the Board of Directors at a stockholder meeting if submitted by an eligible stockholder in a timely manner. Any eligible stockholder wishing to submit a candidate for consideration for election at a stockholder meeting should send the following information to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

Eligible stockholders who do not wish to follow the foregoing procedure but who wish instead to nominate directly one or more persons for election to the Board of Directors must comply with the procedures established by our amended and restated bylaws (“Bylaws”). Our Bylaws provide that in order to nominate a person for election as a director at next year’s annual meeting, a notice of an intention to nominate one or more directors containing

certain information required by the Bylaws must be delivered to the Corporate Secretary of the Company. To be timely, whether or not a stockholder wishes to have his or her nominees included in the Company’s proxy materials, the Corporate Secretary of the Company must receive nominations for election to the Board of Directors for its 2025 annual meeting of stockholders at Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920, no earlier than May 21, 2025 and no later than June 20, 2025. For more information on stockholder proposals, see “Stockholder Proposals” on page 57.

Additionally, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will consider stockholder nominated candidates if a vacancy arises or if the Board of Directors decides to expand its membership, and at such other times as the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee deems necessary or appropriate. In any such event, any stockholder wishing to submit a candidate for consideration should send the above-listed information to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

All of the director nominees identified in this Proxy Statement have been recommended by our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee to our Board of Directors for re-election. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee recommends candidates to the full Board of Directors after receiving input from all directors. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee members, other members of the Board of Directors and senior management discuss potential candidates during this search process.

Certain Board of Directors’ Policies and Practices

Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

The Board of Directors has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines applicable to the members of the Board of Directors, which, among other things, sets forth our definition for an “independent director.” The Board of Directors has also adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to the Company’s employees, directors, agents and representatives, including consultants. The Corporate Governance Guidelines and the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics are available on the Company’s website at www.bned.com. Copies of the Corporate Governance Guidelines and the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics are available in print to any stockholder who requests them in writing to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920.

Board of Directors Leadership Structure

The roles of CEO and Chairman of the Board are currently separately held by Mr. Jonathan Shar and Mr. William C. Martin, respectively. The CEO is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the Company and the day-to-day leadership and performance of the Company, while the Chairman of the Board provides guidance to the CEO, sets the agenda for Board meetings and presides over meetings of the full Board and executive sessions of non-management and independent directors. This separation of the roles of the Chairman of the Board and the CEO allows for greater oversight of the Company by the Board. The Board has determined that our Board leadership structure is the most appropriate at this time, given the specific characteristics and circumstances of the Company, and the skills and experience of Mr. Shar and Mr. Martin.

In accordance with the Corporate Governance Guidelines, non-management directors meet in executive sessions at every Board of Directors meeting. Independent directors also meet at least once a year in an executive session of only independent directors. Currently, all of the non-management directors are independent directors.

Risk Oversight

The Board of Directors’ primary function is one of oversight. In connection with its oversight function, the Board of Directors oversees the Company’s policies and procedures for managing risk. The Board of Directors administers its risk oversight function primarily through its Committees. Board of Directors Committees have assumed oversight of various risks that have been identified through the Company’s enterprise risk assessment. The Audit Committee reviews the Company’s risk assessment and risk management policies, and the Audit Committee reports to the Board of Directors on the Company’s enterprise risk assessment. The Compensation Committee oversees compensation risk through its review of compensation practices and assessment of the potential impact of those practices on risk-taking.

Our Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Legal team oversee the cybersecurity processes of identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks. Reporting directly to our Chief Information Officer, our Chief Information Security

Officer (“CISO”) leads the charge, ensuring that our cybersecurity posture remains robust and adaptive. Through quarterly updates to the Audit Committee and periodic briefings to the Board of Directors, senior management keeps governance structures informed and aligned with our evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Communications between Stockholders and the Board of Directors

Stockholders and other interested persons seeking to communicate with the Board of Directors should submit any communications in writing to the Company’s Corporate Secretary, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc., 120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920. Any such communication must state the number of shares beneficially owned by the stockholder making the communication. The Company’s Corporate Secretary will forward such communication to the full Board of Directors or to any individual director or directors (including the non-management directors as a group) to whom the communication is directed.

Attendance at Annual Meetings

All Board of Directors members are expected to attend the Company’s annual meetings of stockholders and be available to address questions or concerns raised by stockholders. All of the Board of Directors members then serving attended the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE

Commitment to Responsible Business

The Company’s commitment to responsible business practices is rooted in our purpose – elevating lives through education. Our purpose defines who we are and why we exist. That is why we focus on working in innovative ways to design and deliver solutions that contribute to a sustainable, more inclusive and prosperous future for all.

We are firmly committed to aligning our operations with our school partners’ policies to help them achieve their Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) goals. Over the past decade, we have implemented numerous company-wide initiatives aimed at increasing our environmental, sustainability and social efforts across our business, including environmental-friendly stores, merchandise, shipping, technology and more.

By engaging with stakeholders – including clients, consumers, students, employees and investors – we do our part to improve today’s environmental challenges and better serve our community while simultaneously delivering on our company’s business goals.

Operating in a responsible and sustainable environment is important to our company. As part of our commitment to being responsible corporate citizens, we make it a priority to understand and manage our environmental and economic impact on the world around us.

Caring for Our People

Our business is about serving people. Our success depends on attracting, developing and retaining talented and highly qualified employees. We are continually investing in resources and creating programs to attract the best talent, to provide fair and competitive pay and benefits to support our employees’ well-being, and foster personal growth and career development opportunities.

We are always actively recruiting talented people with a passion for education for our retail stores and corporate offices, including our part-time and seasonal roles, and to be a part of our work study/internship program. To find our pool of talent, we network internally and externally via our talent acquisition team, agency partners and current employees whom we mobilize as “talent scouts” and brand ambassadors.

Barnes & Noble Education is an equal opportunity employer. We believe our company’s talent should reflect the faculty, students and communities we serve on each of our campuses. We do that by building a foundation of talent through an Equal Employment Opportunity Policy, which requires personnel decisions to be made in a non-discriminatory manner and empowers individuals to participate equally in all employment opportunities. We offer equal employment opportunity for all current and prospective employees and ensure that employment, training, compensation, transfer, promotion, conditions and privileges of employment are provided without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other protected status.

It is BNED’s policy to comply with all applicable national, state and local laws pertaining to nondiscrimination and equal opportunity.

In order to attract and retain talented employees, we know we must take care of them as they take care of our business. That starts with offering all employees, based on their classification and hours worked, benefits that include:

Investing in Our Employees’ Career Growth

Employee training and development opportunities are critical to our success as we believe they drive our employees’ growth and help to develop leaders within our organization and support the schools and customers we serve. We provide robust, ongoing employee training and career development programs through our Learning & Development system, where employees have access to a library of 75,000 courses for continued professional development and growth. We are currently implementing an integration between the identified development activities and our Learning Management System within our ADP platform to facilitate the identification and completion of training modules intended to help move employees forward in their career development.

Student employees have the opportunity to participate in our Aspiring Leaders Management Development Program, which is geared toward our Campus Store Team Members or Supervisors that show interest in developing their managerial skills as well as learning more about the ins and outs of running one of our unique campus bookstores. Learning and Development has created a comprehensive and interactive program for those interested in joining.

As a major employer of Millennials and Generation Z employees, Barnes & Noble College has become an “employer of choice” among students nationwide and our wholesale operations also offer employment opportunities to students.

All full-time and part-time employees are eligible for annual performance reviews, and this includes development planning.

Protecting the Environment

At our core, we are built on sustainability: we are the nation’s largest used textbook wholesaler, as well as a provider of a robust assortment of digital course materials. By facilitating the sale of used and digital textbooks, we help cut down on the production of paper-books and enable a circular economy.

As a trusted partner at colleges and universities nationwide, we are committed to expanding our sustainability practices and integrating them into the programs and philosophy of each campus we serve. Our goal is to reduce negative impacts on the environment and reduce costs by working with our partners, peers and others to promote responsible environmental practices. Over the past decade, we have implemented many company-wide initiatives aimed at reducing financial costs and increasing our sustainability efforts across operational areas, including environmental-friendly stores, merchandise, shipping, data center design, digital course materials, technology and more.

To meet our school partners’ green goals and vision, our architects can help design LEED-certified buildings. These “low-impact” stores may also feature recycled floor coverings, eco-friendly carpeting, non-toxic paint, mercury-free fluorescent lights, and eco-friendly merchandising fixtures made with recycled particleboard and non-toxic glues.

We incorporate green business practices throughout a number of our offices and warehouse facilities including the use of recycled materials, recycling of all paper, plastic and glass products, replacement of our facilities’ lighting to increase energy efficiency and the utilization of efficient shipping methods that help decrease waste and reduces costs.

To help our customers make environmental-friendly choices in our stores, we offer sustainable products such as reusable water bottles, CFL light bulbs, recycled notebooks, recycled, reusable tote bags, and organic foods and snacks. In addition, approximately 210 of our stores do not use plastic check out bags but instead use our paper check out bags, which are made from 100% recycled fiber, with a minimum of 40% post-consumer content and are 100% recyclable. We also proactively promote reuse and recycling of our bags to consumers.

We ship over $590 million in textbooks and general merchandise purchases annually, which necessitates a large number of shipping cartons. We understand the impact this volume of shipments can have on the environment, so we have addressed the environmental impact of our order receiving and fulfillment in multiple ways. We always try to consolidate orders whether we are sending or receiving the package, we use only cartons that have 35% postconsumer recycled content for every shipment we send, we re-use the boxes, packing materials and pallets many times over, and we work to makes sure all materials including every carton is recycled properly when it can no longer be used.

Lastly, although our business is built on extending the useful life of textbooks, there are times when books can no longer be a part of our system, but we try to ensure that they do not end up in landfills. For unwanted textbooks,

we work with Better World Books, an award-winning, for-profit social enterprise and a global e-retailer that collects and sells unwanted used textbooks online matching each purchase with a book donation, Book-for-Book™. For books that have reached the end of their lifetime, we work with a third-party to grind the books down to a pulp that can be beneficially used.

Safeguarding Personal Data

We take the privacy and security of personal information very seriously. Our day-to-day operations are managed by our Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). The CISO reports to the SVP, Chief Information Officer (CIO); the CPO reports directly to the EVP, Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary (CLO). In addition to direct CLO and CIO interaction with the Board of Directors (BOD), our Senior Manager – Risk Management & Treasury solicits information from the CPO and others to provide compliance updates to the Audit Committee of the BOD.

As set in our Code of Business Conduct & Ethics, we expect all employees to adhere to the laws, regulations, and company policies applicable to the personal or business information that they may process in the course of their employment. Our information security policies and procedures include only using or disclosing personal or business information as needed to fulfill the specific purpose(s) for which such information was collected, not collecting more personal or business information than is necessary and taking care to safeguard the information. All employees must attest to complying with the Code annually. All employees, including part-time employees, who have access to our systems are trained on our procedures upon hire and have a refresher once a year. Some employees are required to take Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliance training.

We perform network penetration testing at least annually and application penetration testing at least quarterly on our corporate systems. In the event of a major system or environment change we would do additional testing. We also perform vulnerability scans monthly. All penetration testing and monthly vulnerability scans are done by a third party.

Operating Ethically

Ethical behavior is a core tenet of our Company’s values. We believe that how we operate as a company creates value for all our stakeholders – customers, clients, students, employees, investors and others – and will ultimately contribute to the Company’s long-term business growth and a better world.

We operate a robust ethics and compliance program, which includes regular employee training. If an employee has concerns, we have many avenues for them to seek guidance and/or report their concerns. They range from speaking with their manager, the HR department, or another member of our executive team, to utilizing our Talk2Us feature where they can report concerns either online or to an 800 hotline. This allows them to report concerns anonymously and confidentially. BNED also has zero tolerance and will not permit retaliation of any kind against anyone for reporting potential ethics or compliance issues in good faith or for assisting in the investigation of these issues.

Supporting Human Rights & Fair Labor Through our Supply Chain

We are proud of our commitment to apply fair labor practices and we are committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. As a member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), we require vendors who supply products to our stores to adopt the FLA’s Code of Conduct. This requires strict adherence to workers’ rights, including no forced or child labor, a workplace free of discrimination, harassment and/or abuse, a safe and healthy working environment, respect for the workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, proper compensation for overtime hours, as well as limiting those hours to not be excessive, and paying workers’ wages and benefits in accordance with the law. We also ask our vendors to adopt their Principles of Monitoring to assure compliance with the Code of Conduct through training and audits. Through our partnership with FLA, our campus communities can be assured that the products sold in our stores were not created using unfair labor practices. To achieve greater transparency, the majority of our vendor partners openly disclose on their websites the factories used to manufacture their products.

Giving Back to the Communities We Serve

We strive to understand and respect the values of the communities where we serve and actively support initiatives in these communities. This commitment is visible in our contributions of financial and volunteer support, from providing annual textbook scholarships, to supporting student clubs and organizations. In addition, every year we donate surplus school supplies to the Kids in Need organization, which distributes merchandise to centers across the country so local teachers can visit and obtain free supplies for students in need.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock, as of July 26, 2024, unless otherwise indicated, (i) by each person or group of affiliated persons known by the Company to own beneficially more than five percent of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock, (ii) by each director, director nominee, and named executive officer and (iii) by all directors, director nominees and current executive officers of the Company as a group. Except as otherwise indicated below, the address of each director, director nominee, named executive officer and executive officer listed below is 120 Mountain View Blvd, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920. Except as otherwise noted, to the Company’s knowledge, each person named in the table has sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of Common Stock shown as beneficially owned by him, her or it.

Holdings, LLC, Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc., Kynetic F, LLC and Michael G. Rubin with respect to which each of the foregoing persons have shared dispositive power and voting power and (iv) 4,448,928 shares of Common Stock directly held by TopLids LendCo, LLC and beneficially owned by FanzzLids Holdings, LLC, Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC, Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc., Kynetic F, LLC and Michael G. Rubin with respect to which each of the foregoing persons have shared dispositive power and voting power. Fanatics Lids College, Inc. directly owns 4,608 shares of Common Stock, Lids Holdings, Inc. directly owns 11,539 shares of Common Stock, and TopLids LendCo, LLC directly owns 4,448,928 shares of Common Stock. Each of Fanatics Lids College, Inc., Lids Holdings, Inc. and TopLids LendCo, LLC are wholly owned subsidiaries of FanzzLids Holdings, LLC, which, as a result, beneficially owns the cumulative 4,465,075 shares of Common Stock. FanzzLids Holdings, LLC is a joint venture between Lids Investment Holdings, LLC and Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC. As the majority member of FanzzLids Holdings, LLC, Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the 4,465,075 shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by FanzzLids Holdings, LLC. Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc., as the sole member of Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC, may be deemed to beneficially own the 4,465,075 shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC, and, additionally, Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc. directly owns 11,539 shares of Common Stock (resulting in an aggregated beneficial ownership of 4,476,614 shares of Common Stock). On account of its share of the ownership of the voting securities of Fanatics Holdings, Inc., which indirectly owns 100% of the outstanding capital stock of Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc., Kynetic F, LLC indirectly owns a controlling percentage of the outstanding voting securities of Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc. Michael G. Rubin is the managing member of Kynetic F, LLC and, as a result, may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the 4,476,614 shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by Kynetic F, LLC. The address for Lids Holdings, Inc., TopLids LendCo, LLC, Fanatics Leader Topco, Inc., Fanatics Lids College, Inc., FanzzLids Holdings, LLC and Fanatics Leader Holdings, LLC is 95 Morton Street, New York, NY 10014. The address for Kynetic F, LLC and Michael G. Rubin is 225 Washington Street, 3rd Floor, Conshohocken, PA 19428.

COMPENSATION OVERVIEW

This Compensation Overview summarizes the material elements of our compensation program for our named executive officers (each, an “NEO”). For Fiscal 2024, our NEOs were:

Our Company in Fiscal 2024

We are one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores for college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. We are also one of the largest textbook wholesalers and inventory management hardware and software providers.

We do not believe that our financial performance in Fiscal 2024 reflects BNED’s strong assets, brand legacy or our commitment to our customers and academic partners. That said, we have taken concrete steps throughout Fiscal 2024 to address the challenges facing our Company and our industry as a whole. Key Fiscal 2024 achievements include:

With the closing of the recent equity investments and bank refinancing transactions negotiated in Fiscal 2024, the Company has significantly strengthened its long-term financial position and deleveraged its balance sheet. Building on this, we believe that we are better positioned than ever to serve our academic partners and customers and strategically invest in innovations to drive material improvements in profitability going forward.

Management and Compensation Committee Transitions

During Fiscal 2024 and early Fiscal 2025, the Company experienced a number of changes in its senior leadership, with the appointment of Mr. Watson as the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective September 7, 2023, the retirement of Mr. Henderson, the Company’s former Executive Vice President, Strategic Services, and President, MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC effective June 2, 2023, and the resignation of Mr. Huseby, the Company’s former Chief Executive Officer effective June 11, 2024 and appointment of Mr. Shar as Chief Executive Officer. In addition, as noted above under “Compensation Committee Interlocks and

Insider Participation,” the members of our Compensation Committee during Fiscal 2024 were David G. Golden (Chair), Kathryn Eberle Walker, Vice Admiral John R. Ryan and Rory D. Wallace. Messrs. Golden, Ryan and Wallace resigned from the Board upon the closing of the refinancing and recapitalization transactions on June 10, 2024, and the new members of our Compensation Committee were appointed on June 19, 2024.

References to Chief Executive Officer as they appear in this Compensation Overview refer to Mr. Huseby, as he served as Chief Executive Officer for the entirety of Fiscal 2024. The discussion in this Compensation Overview regarding the decisions made by the Compensation Committee in Fiscal 2024 refer to the Compensation Committee then in office. Please see “Key Compensation Decisions for Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2025” below for a discussion of the arrangements that we entered into with our NEOs in connection with the Company’s recent financial challenges and senior management transitions.

Executive Summary

Our executive compensation program is designed to (i) align with our business strategy; (ii) attract, retain, and engage the talent we need to compete in our industry; and (iii) align management with stockholders’ interests. We believe our Compensation Committee has established a compensation program that reflects our businesses, compensation governance best practices and a “pay-for-performance” philosophy.

Compensation and Governance Highlights

What we do

What we don’t do

Continuous Improvement in our Compensation Plans

The Compensation Committee continues to review and refine the Company’s executive compensation program to further align pay with Company performance and to ensure the integrity of the Company’s executive compensation program. The Compensation Committee considered the “say-on-pay” stockholder advisory vote held in October 2023 to be supportive of the Company’s pay practices. Approximately 80% of stockholder votes cast were in favor of the executive officer compensation as described in our 2023 proxy statement. The Company regularly

engages with its top three non-institutional holders and has engaged or offered to engage with all significant stockholders. Several of our executive officers and directors, including the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Legal Officer and the chairperson of the Board and the Compensation Committee are involved in these discussions. While the majority of discussions with stockholders during Fiscal 2024 were primarily focused on updates on the execution of the Company’s strategy and financial condition, the Company’s compensation program was discussed following the 2023 Annual Meeting in the context of the results of the “say-on-pay” stockholder advisory vote and the Company’s ongoing cost management actions, which has resulted in a significant decrease in operating expenses. The Compensation Committee has been, and will remain, responsive to concerns raised by the stockholders and have made adjustments to the compensation program accordingly. Examples of concerns raised by stockholders regarding the Company’s compensation program are set forth in the table below. The reaction to these changes from stockholders generally has been favorable.

The Board of Directors values stockholder feedback and will continue to proactively engage with our stockholders on these and other issues as well as periodically reviewing our compensation practices to ensure they are aligned with stockholder interest and are competitive with companies in the markets in which we compete.

Key Compensation Decisions for Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2025

The Compensation Committee made the following compensation decisions in Fiscal 2024 and early Fiscal 2025, which were intended to retain and motivate the management team during a challenging period for the Company, while taking into account stockholder concerns regarding alignment between pay and performance, dilution and run rate issues.

Pay and Performance Alignment in Fiscal 2024

Although annual incentives for NEOs were a component of the Company’s compensation program in prior years, there was no annual incentive plan approved for Fiscal 2024 and the Company did not grant any equity awards to our directors or our NEOs during Fiscal 2024 due to our financial condition and the depreciated equity value of our Common Stock.

Instead, as summarized above under “Key Compensation Decisions for Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2025,” the Company entered into certain special one-time retention and performance incentive agreements with certain NEOs to retain key talent in the face of challenging conditions and support the Company’s critical path goal of strengthening its long-term financial position.

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

We are engaged in a very competitive and rapidly changing industry, and our success depends on our ability to attract, motivate and retain qualified executives. Accordingly, the Compensation Committee aims to create total compensation packages that are competitive with programs offered by other companies with which we compete for talent. At the same time, our Compensation Committee believes that a significant portion of the compensation paid to our executive officers should be tied to our performance, execution of our strategic plan and the value we create for stockholders.

The Compensation Committee’s objectives are to:

Compensation Market References

In establishing compensation for Fiscal 2024, the Compensation Committee worked with Mercer, its compensation consultant, to develop a peer group for the Company and review executive compensation against that peer group. In support of its compensation philosophy, the Compensation Committee reviews the following: (a) base salary; (b) target short-term incentive; (c) target total cash compensation; (d) actual total cash compensation; (e) target or grant date fair value of long-term incentive; and (f) target total direct compensation. Executives are matched to market positions based on titles, responsibilities and contributions to the Company. The Compensation Committee reviewed compensation among the peer group companies to determine the competitiveness of pay levels and pay mix for executives. Although no other public companies are directly comparable to the Company and its businesses, the Compensation Committee considers the Company’s competitors for executive talent to be companies engaged in retail and education services. Our peer group, which is reviewed annually, includes companies that are similar in size to the Company based on revenues and market capitalization and also companies with overlapping business model characteristics (e.g., education / technology focus, combination of products and services, strong relationships with business partners, go-to-market strategy, and geographic footprint) as follows:

In Fiscal 2023, Graham Holdings Company and Grand Canyon Education, Inc. were added as peer companies. The Committee reviews the peer group annually and will continue to consider the Company’s current size and strategic direction in its review.

However, peer group compensation is just one factor that is considered in determining compensation levels for our executive officers. We also consider: (a) the Company’s business performance; (b) each executive officer’s job responsibilities, experience and prior performance; (c) relative compensation among our executive officers; (d) industry-wide business conditions; and (e) the recommendations of our Chief Executive Officer for our other named executive officers.

Overview of Compensation Program Design

Elements of Pay

Our compensation structure is primarily composed of base salary, performance-based annual incentive compensation and performance-based and time-vested long-term equity incentives.

Base Salary

We pay our NEOs a base salary to provide them with a guaranteed minimum compensation level for their services. An NEO’s base salary is determined by evaluating the external competitive marketplace, internal equity and individual contributions.

Performance-Based Annual Incentive Compensation

The target award under the Annual Incentive Plan for the NEOs for Fiscal 2024 is expressed as a percentage of base salary as set forth in the table below.

In Fiscal 2024, given the Company’s financial condition, management recommended to the Compensation Committee that no incentive plan awards be funded unless the Company achieved its annual Company EBITDA target contained in the Company’s business plan for Fiscal 2024. Accordingly, any individual Annual Incentive Plan payouts would be discretionary and subject to the approval of the Compensation Committee based upon Fiscal 2024 results and other considerations. In light of the separate retention and performance bonus opportunities as described below under “Fiscal 2024 Retention Bonuses and Performance Incentive Bonuses,” the Compensation Committee determined that no additional discretionary annual bonuses would be paid to our NEOs.

Separately, Mr. Watson received a guaranteed annual bonus for Fiscal 2024 (prorated based on his start date) equal to $306,000 pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement with the Company, and therefore was not eligible for any additional annual bonus.

Long-Term Equity Incentives

Although long-term equity incentives were a component of the Company’s compensation program in prior years, the Company did not grant any equity awards to our NEOs during Fiscal 2024 due to our financial condition and the depreciated equity value of our Common Stock.

Fiscal 2024 Retention Bonuses and Performance Incentive Bonuses

As discussed above under “Key Compensation Decisions for Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2025,” the Company entered into special one-time retention and performance incentive agreements with our NEOs (other than Mr. Watson and Mr. Henderson) to retain key talent in the face of challenging conditions and support the Company’s critical path goal of strengthening its long-term financial position.

Under the terms of retention agreements with each of Messrs. Miller and Shar and Ms. Paul, they were entitled to receive an aggregate cash retention bonus of $450,000 ($350,000 in the case of Ms. Paul), payable in two equal installments on or about September 1, 2023 and February 1, 2024, if they remained employed through such date. Each such NEO earned these retention bonuses in full.

Separately under the terms of a performance incentive agreement with Mr. Huseby, he was eligible to earn a retention bonus of $220,000 if he remained employed with the Company through September 15, 2023, and up to $880,000 in performance cash bonuses tied to the achievement of certain business milestones or at the discretion of the ATC. Mr. Huseby ultimately earned the $220,000 retention bonus and an additional $440,000 in performance bonuses in connection with the approval of the equity financing and debt restructuring transactions by the ATC and achievement of second quarter Fiscal 2024 EBITDA goals.

Other Components of Compensation

401(k) Plan. Each of our NEOs is entitled to participate in our tax-qualified defined contribution 401(k) plan on the same basis as all other eligible employees. The 401(k) plan provides our employees, including our NEOs, with a way to accumulate tax-deferred savings for retirement. Prior to August 2023, the Company matched the contributions of participants, subject to certain criteria. In August 2023, upon management’s recommendation, the Compensation Committee approved the conversion of the Company’s 401(k) plan match to a discretionary year end contribution. The amount of the Company’s matching contributions for each of our NEOs is set forth in footnotes to the “Summary Compensation Table” on page 32. We do not provide supplemental executive retirement benefits.

Limited Perquisites and Other Compensation. The Company’s NEOs are entitled to only the limited perquisites set forth in their employment agreements or letters and disclosed in the footnotes to the “Summary Compensation Table” on page 32.

Severance and Change of Control Payments and Benefits. The Company has an employment agreement with Mr. Huseby (Mr. Huseby resigned effective June 11, 2024) and each of Messrs. Watson, Miller, Shar and Henderson (Mr. Henderson retired effective June 2, 2023), and Ms. Paul have employment letter agreements that contain severance and change in control benefits. The agreements provide for certain severance payments and benefits upon termination of employment by the Company without cause or by the NEO for good reason (including upon termination within two years following a change of control). The triggering events that would result in the severance payments and benefits and the amount of those payments and benefits are intended to provide our NEOs with financial protection upon loss of employment and to support our executive retention goals and enable our NEOs to focus on the interests of the Company in the event of a potential change of control. Equity awards are subject to a “double-trigger” and vesting will only be accelerated if there is a termination of employment without “cause” or for “good reason” following a change of control. The Company does not pay any tax gross-ups in connection with the severance payments. The Compensation Committee believes that the terms of the employment agreements, including triggering events and amounts payable, are competitive with severance protection being offered by other companies with whom we compete for highly qualified executives. The material terms of these agreements, as in effect for Fiscal 2024, are described in the section entitled “Narrative to the Summary Compensation Table – Employment Arrangements with the Named Executive Officers.”

Governance Policies

Executive Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy

The Board of Directors has adopted the Executive Incentive Compensation Clawback Policy (the “Clawback Policy”). The Clawback Policy allows the Compensation Committee to take action to recover incentive compensation from certain key employees, including executive officers, in the event that the Company is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to material noncompliance with financial reporting requirements. The Clawback Policy only applies to incentive-based compensation paid in excess of what would have been paid or granted under the circumstances reflected by such restatement, and applies irrespective of the responsibility of the key employee for the accounting restatement. The Clawback Policy applies to all Section 16 officers and covers all incentive-based compensation (including cash and equity) paid or granted after adoption of the policy. During Fiscal 2024, there were no events that triggered a right to a clawback from any of our Section 16 officers.

Insider Trading Policy

The Company’s Insider Trading Policy applicable to all directors, officers and employees prohibits insider trading when the person is aware of material nonpublic information and restricts directors, officers with the title of Vice President and above, and certain other employees determined to have potential access to insider information from trading in Company stock during predetermined blackout periods. In addition, all Board members, certain individuals who are subject to Section 16 of the Exchange Act, and all other employees who have been notified by the Company’s General Counsel that they are subject to pre-clearance procedures to pre-clear any trades.

Prohibition on Hedging and Pledging Transactions

The Company’s Insider Trading Policy prohibits employees, including directors and executive officers, from hedging their ownership of Company stock, including selling Company stock short, buying or selling puts or calls or other derivative instruments related to Company stock. Directors and executive officers are also prohibited from pledging Company stock, purchasing Company stock on margin or incurring any indebtedness secured by a margin or similar account in which Company stock is held, without prior approval of the Audit Committee.

Executive Stock Ownership Guidelines

The executive stock ownership guidelines are based on a multiple of annual base salary as follows: Chief Executive Officer-five times; all other NEOs-two times; and all other Section 16 officers-one time (“Stock Ownership Target”). Officers are required to retain 50% of net after-tax shares earned from equity grants until the Stock Ownership Target is met; provided, however, if an officer has not met the Stock Ownership Target within five years of becoming subject to the guidelines, officers are required to retain 100% of the net after-tax shares earned

from equity grants. Only vested and fully-owned shares owned by an officer directly or indirectly through the 401(k) plan, immediate family members or trusts or similar arrangements count toward the Stock Ownership Targets. The Compensation Committee reviews progress toward the Stock Ownership Targets annually. Although none of the named executive officers have met the Stock Ownership Targets, each is making satisfactory progress toward achieving the target.

Compensation Policies and Practices as Related to Risk Management

With the assistance of its compensation consultant, the Compensation Committee conducted its risk assessment of the Company’s incentive compensation plans covering employees. The Compensation Committee evaluated the levels of risk-taking to determine whether they are appropriate in the context of the Company’s strategic objectives, the overall compensation arrangements, and the Company’s overall risk profile. The Compensation Committee believes the following elements of the Company’s executive compensation program mitigate potential risks:

The Compensation Committee concluded the Company has a balanced pay-for-performance executive compensation program that does not encourage excessive risk-taking and the Company does not maintain compensation policies and practices that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.

Tax and Accounting Considerations

The overriding consideration when evaluating the pay level or design component of any portion of our executives’ compensation is the effectiveness of the pay component and the stockholder value that management and the Compensation Committee believe the pay component reinforces. In structuring the compensation for our NEOs, our Compensation Committee will review a variety of factors, including the possible tax and accounting consequences applicable to the Company or its executives. In particular, section 162(m) of the Code limits our ability to deduct remuneration paid to our executives exceeding $1 million. However, this is not the driving or most influential factor and the Compensation Committee has approved in the past and specifically reserves the right to pay or approve nondeductible compensation currently and in the future.

Roles of the Compensation Committee, Management, and our Compensation Consultant in Determining the Compensation of our Named Executive Officers

Roles of the Compensation Committee and Management

The Compensation Committee is responsible for establishing, implementing and overseeing our compensation program, and reviews and approves our compensation philosophy and objectives. The Compensation Committee also annually reviews and approves annual base salary levels, annual incentive opportunity levels, long-term incentive opportunity levels, employment and severance agreements and any special or supplemental benefits for each of the NEOs and any other executive officers, Section 16 officers and employees of the Company earning a base salary of $400,000 or more.

The compensation of our Chief Executive Officer is determined by the Compensation Committee in executive sessions. The Chief Executive Officer reviews the performance of each of our other executive officers and makes compensation recommendations to the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee considers all key elements of compensation separately and also reviews the full compensation package of each executive officer.

Role of the Compensation Consultant

In Fiscal 2024, the Compensation Committee retained Mercer, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., to assist with the committee’s responsibilities related to the Company’s executive compensation program and the director compensation program. Mercer’s engagement by the Compensation

Committee included reviewing and recommending the structure of our compensation program and advising on all significant aspects of executive compensation, including base salaries, annual incentives and long-term equity incentives for executives. At the request of the Compensation Committee, Mercer collected relevant market data to allow the Compensation Committee to compare components of our compensation program to those of our peers, provided information on executive compensation trends and implications and made other recommendations to the Committee regarding our executive compensation program. Our management, Chief Executive Officer (on certain occasions), Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Legal Officer and the chair of the Compensation Committee, met with representatives of Mercer before Compensation Committee meetings during Fiscal 2024.

In making its final decisions regarding the form and amount of compensation to be paid to the executives in Fiscal 2024, the Compensation Committee considered the information gathered by and recommendations of Mercer. Mercer’s fees for executive and director compensation consulting to the Compensation Committee in Fiscal 2024 were approximately $47,620. The Company also paid Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., the parent company of Mercer, for insurance brokerage services totaling approximately $271,730 in Fiscal 2024 versus $403,304 in Fiscal 2023 and $51,000 to Mercer Investments for 401(k) plan consulting in Fiscal 2024 versus $50,000 in Fiscal 2023. The Compensation Committee has assessed the independence of Mercer taking into account the following factors identified by the SEC and NYSE as bearing upon independence: (i) Mercer’s provision of other services to the Company; (ii) the fees Mercer received for such services as a percentage of the revenues of Marsh & McLennan, Mercer’s parent; (iii) the policies and procedures of Mercer that are designed to prevent conflicts of interest; (iv) any business or personal relationship of the Mercer consultants with a member of the Compensation Committee; (v) any of our stock owned by the Mercer consultants; and (vi) any business or personal relationship of the Mercer consultants or Mercer with any of our executive officers. The Compensation Committee concluded that no conflict of interest exists with respect to its engagement of Mercer.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Unless otherwise stated, the compensation tables included in this section reflect amounts paid or payable or awards granted to our NEOs by the Company under the Company’s compensation plans and programs during Fiscal 2022, Fiscal 2023 and Fiscal 2024.

Summary Compensation Table

All Other Compensation Table

Narrative to the Summary Compensation Table

Employment Arrangements with the Named Executive Officers

The Company has entered into an employment agreement or employment letter with each of the NEOs and compensation of each of these NEOs is based on their respective employment agreement or employment letter, as the case may be, as well as their job responsibilities.

Michael P. Huseby. The Company entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with Mr. Huseby on July 19, 2017, as amended on June 23, 2022, effective September 1, 2022 (the “Huseby Amended Agreement”), as described herein. In addition, on April 15, 2024, in connection with the Purchase Agreement, Mr. Huseby entered into a letter agreement pursuant to which he agreed to decreased severance amounts from the amounts provided under the Amended Agreement (the “Huseby Letter Agreement”) as described above.

The employment agreement provided severance payments and benefits upon termination of employment by the Company without “cause” or by the NEO for “good reason” (including upon termination within two years following a change of control). The employment agreement renews automatically for additional one-year terms unless either party gives notice of non-renewal at least three months prior to automatic renewal.

The Huseby Amended Agreement (i) extended the term of the agreement to September 20, 2023 (subject to automatic renewal); (ii) reduced Mr. Huseby’s annual target bonus from 125% to 100%, (iii) provided for severance in the event that the Company elects not to renew the term of the agreement and Mr. Huseby thereafter resigns employment effective upon the expiration of the then-current term, (iv) provided for acceleration of time-based equity awards in certain events of termination, and (v) reduced the lump-sum severance payment in the event of a change in control. The Huseby Amended Agreement also contains non-competition and non-solicitation covenants that apply during the employment term and for the two-year period following termination of employment.

Pursuant to the Huseby Letter Agreement, Mr. Huseby agreed to further amendments to his employment agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, he agreed to a revised decreased severance amount of $750,000. Mr. Huseby also agreed to provide transition services as a consultant for six months following the effective date of any termination of his employment that triggers a right to receive such severance in return for compensation of $750,000 to be paid at the end of such six-month period regardless of whether the Company requests that he render any transition services. The amendments contained in the Huseby Letter Agreement were contingent upon the successful consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement. As noted above, Mr. Huseby’s employment with the Company terminated effective June 11, 2024.

Other NEOs. The Company has also entered into employment letters outlining employment terms with each of Messrs. Miller, Shar, Henderson, and Ms. Paul on June 19, 2019, and with Mr. Watson on August 28, 2023, as amended on January 31, 2024. The employment letters provide the officers with severance payments and benefits upon termination of employment by the Company without “cause” or by the NEO for “good reason” (including upon termination within two years following a change of control). The Company entered into a Severance Letter Agreement and General Release and Waiver with Mr. Henderson, dated May 3, 2023, which, among other things, contains a release of any rights or claims against the Company.

Employment Arrangements- General Provisions

Unless otherwise noted, the following descriptions describe the terms of the employment arrangements in effect for Fiscal 2024 for the NEOs other than for Mr. Huseby. Each of Messrs. Miller, Shar, and Watson and Ms. Paul are eligible for a minimum target annual incentive compensation award of not less than 85%, 85%, 85% and 75%, respectively, of his or her base salary, as determined by the Compensation Committee.

The employment agreements or employment letters also provide that the NEO is eligible for grants of equity-based awards under the Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan. With respect to Messrs. Miller, Shar and Watson and Ms. Paul, the amounts of such grants are determined by the Compensation Committee. Each of our NEOs is entitled to all other benefits afforded to executive officers and employees of the Company.

Under their respective employment agreements or employment letters with the Company, our NEOs are subject to certain restrictive covenants regarding competition, solicitation, confidentiality and disparagement.

Messrs. Miller and Henderson are restricted by a non-competition and non-solicitation covenant during their term of employment and for a one-year period thereafter. The confidentiality and non-disparagement covenants apply during the term of each respective employment letters of each NEO and at all times thereafter.

Employment Arrangements - Severance and Change of Control Benefits

If the employment of Messrs. Miller, Shar, or Watson or of Ms. Paul is terminated by the Company without “cause” or by the NEO for “good reason,” the NEO is entitled, provided he or she signs a release of claims against the Company, to a lump-sum severance payment equal to one times annual base salary; and (b) company-paid COBRA premiums for twelve months (for NEOs other than Mr. Watson).

Further, if the employment of any NEO is terminated by the Company without “cause” or by the NEO for “good reason” within two years (or the remainder of his term of employment under his employment agreement, whichever is longer) following a “change of control” of the Company, the NEO is entitled to a lump-sum severance payment equal to two times (one times in the case of Mr. Watson) (a) annual base salary; (b) the target annual incentive compensation for the fiscal year in which termination takes place; and (c) company-paid COBRA premiums for up to twelve months (for NEOs other than Mr. Watson). However, if such severance payments trigger the “golden parachute” excise tax under Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code, the severance benefits for an NEO would be reduced if such reduction would result in a greater after-tax benefit to such NEO.

In the case of Mr. Watson, severance is payable on a resignation for good reason only after he has been employed with the Company for at least eight months.

Except as otherwise provided by the applicable award agreement, if the successor company assumes or substitutes for an outstanding equity award, such award will continue in accordance with its applicable terms and will not be accelerated. Under the restricted stock unit award agreements, if the holder were terminated other than for “cause” at any time following a change of control, then the unvested restricted stock units underlying the award would immediately vest.

Under the award agreements executed under the Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan, “change of control” generally has the same meaning as provided under the Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. Equity Incentive Plan and means any of the following: (a) a change in the ownership of the Company; (b) a change in the effective control of the Company; or (c) a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the Company’s assets, in each case, within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

“Cause” is defined by reference to the individual’s employment agreement or letter, and if there is no agreement or letter, the applicable award agreement, and generally means (a) a material failure by the holder to perform his or her duties (other than as a result of incapacity due to physical or mental illness) during his or her employment with the Company after written notice of such breach or failure and the holder failed to cure such breach or failure to the Company’s reasonable satisfaction within five days after receiving such written notice; or (b) any act of fraud, misappropriation, misuse, embezzlement or any other material act of dishonesty in respect of the Company or its funds, properties, assets or other employees.

Employment Arrangements - Defined Terms

“Cause,” for purposes of the employment agreement and employment letters, generally means any of the following: (a) the NEO engaging in intentional misconduct or gross negligence that, in either case, is injurious to the Company; (b) the NEO’s indictment, entry of a plea of nolo contendere or conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction with respect to any crime or violation of law involving fraud or dishonesty (with the exception of misconduct based in good faith on the advice of professional consultants, such as attorneys and accountants) or any felony (or equivalent crime in a non-U.S. jurisdiction); (c) any gross negligence, intentional acts or intentional omissions by the NEO in connection with the performance of the NEO’s duties and responsibilities; (d) fraud, dishonesty, embezzlement or misappropriation in connection with the performance of the NEO’s duties and responsibilities; (e) the NEO engaging in any act of misconduct or moral turpitude reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company or its business; (f) the NEO’s abuse of or dependency on alcohol or drugs (illicit or otherwise) that adversely affects the NEO’s job performance; (g) the NEO’s willful failure or refusal to properly perform the duties, responsibilities or obligations of the NEO’s service for reasons other than disability or authorized leave, or to properly perform or follow any lawful direction by the Company; or (h) the NEO’s breach of the agreement or of any other contractual duty to, written policy of, or written agreement with, the Company.

“Change of Control,” for purposes of the employment agreement and employment letters, generally means any of the following: (a) the Company’s directors immediately prior to a merger, consolidation, liquidation or sale of assets cease within two years thereafter to constitute a majority of the Company’s Board of Directors; (b) the Company’s directors immediately prior to a tender or exchange offer for the Company’s voting securities cease within two years thereafter to constitute a majority of the Company’s Board of Directors. The consummation of a corporate transaction constituting a Reorganization or a Sale, if such transaction requires the approval of the Company’s stockholders, subject to certain exceptions outlined in the agreement and letters; or (c) the acquisition by any person or group (other than the executive or his or her affiliates) of 40% or more of the Company’s voting securities.

“Good Reason,” for purposes of the employment agreement and employment letters, generally means any of the following without the NEO’s written consent: (a) a material diminution of authority, duties or responsibilities; (b) a material diminution in the authority, duties or responsibilities of the supervisor to whom the NEO reports; (c) a reduction in current annual base salary or target annual bonus; (d) the relocation of an executive’s principal office by more than 50 miles; (e) a failure by the Company to make material payments under the agreement; (f) a reduction in title; or (g) a material reduction in the value of employee benefits following a Change of Control. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an NEO will only have grounds to resign for Good Reason if the NEO notifies the Company in writing with 60 days of the Good Reason occurrence, the Company does not cure such grounds within 30 days following receipt of notice, and the NEO actually resigns employment 30 days following the end of such cure period.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End

The following table summarizes the equity awards the Company made to our NEOs that were outstanding as of the end of Fiscal 2024. In accordance with the applicable SEC disclosure guidance, this table and the accompanying footnotes do not account for any awards that may have been exercised or have vested or been forfeited pursuant to their terms in the ordinary course since the end of Fiscal 2024.

Stock Awards

Option Awards

 

 

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Annual Retainer

During Fiscal 2024, the annual retainer fee for each non-employee director then in office was $85,000 and the Chairman of the Board of Directors received an additional annual retainer of $145,000. Audit Committee members received an additional $15,000 annual retainer, and the Chair of the Audit Committee received an additional $30,000 annual retainer. Compensation Committee members received an additional $10,000 annual retainer, and the Chair of the Compensation Committee received an additional $20,000 annual retainer. Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee members received an additional $10,000 annual retainer, and the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee received an additional $17,500 annual retainer. All retainer fees are paid quarterly, in arrears, in cash. Directors who are our employees will not receive additional compensation for serving on our Board of Directors or its committees. All directors are also reimbursed for travel, lodging and related expenses incurred in attending Board of Directors meetings.

Pursuant to independent director agreements between the Company and each of Steven Panagos and Raphael Wallander, in lieu of participating in the Company’s non-employee director compensation plan, in Fiscal 2024, each of Mr. Panagos and Mr. Wallander were entitled to cash compensation of $45,000 per month (pro-rated for any partial months), plus a daily fee of $5,000 for each day that such director is being deposed, appearing in court and/or spending more than four hours on such day preparing for a deposition or a court appearance. In addition, effective upon his appointment to the ATC on August 11, 2023 through March 2024, Mr. Wallace received cash compensation of $45,000 per month in lieu of participating in the Company’s non-employee director compensation plan.

In June 2024, the Compensation Committee approved certain changes in the director retainer fees. The annual retainer fee for each non-employee director is now $100,000 and the Chairman of the Board of Directors received an additional annual retainer of $100,000. In connection with the creation of the SORC, the Compensation Committee approved an annual retainer amount for each member of $100,000 and an additional annual retainer for the Chairperson of the SORC of $75,000. There are no additional retainers for service on any other committee.

Equity Compensation

Each non-employee director (other than those not participating in the Company’s non-employee director compensation plan) is eligible for equity award grants under the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan. In November 2023, as a result of the then current depreciated stock price, the Compensation Committee of the Board granted each eligible director the right to receive up to $200,000 in either cash or equity, of which $100,000 was paid in cash in Fiscal 2024, one payment of $50,000 was made in May 2024, and the final payment of $50,000 in cash was paid to Ms. Walker and Ms. Warren in August 2024. Such awards are granted the day following the Annual Meeting at which each individual director is elected by a majority of stockholders voting and vest after one year. Directors have the option to defer receipt of such awards under the Company’s director’s deferral plan.

In June 2024, the Compensation Committee approved certain changes in annual director equity awards. Each non-employee director is eligible to receive an annual grant of restricted stock units with a grant date fair value of $200,000, Such awards are granted the day following the Annual Meeting at which each individual director is elected by a majority of stockholders voting and vest on the earlier of one year from the grant date and the date of the next annual meeting, and will also be subject to full acceleration upon a change of control of the Company. Directors have the option to defer receipt of such awards under the Company’s director’s deferral plan. In the case of directors elected to the Board effective as of the special meeting of stockholders held on June 10, 2024, each such new director also received a prorated grant for service from the closing of the equity financing and debt restructuring transactions to the 2024 annual meeting.

Director Stock Ownership and Retention Guidelines

In 2016, the Board of Directors adopted Director Stock Ownership and Retention Guidelines, which require each non-employee director to maintain a minimum stock ownership amount equal to four times the annual cash retainer of $85,000, which currently equals $340,000. Directors have a three-year period following their appointment or election to the Board to achieve the minimum ownership level. Shares beneficially owned by a director and vested shares or units are deemed to be owned for purposes of the ownership guidelines. A director is deemed to have complied with these guidelines once they hold a number of shares sufficient to satisfy the minimum ownership level,

regardless of subsequent fluctuations in the market price of the Company’s Common Stock. Directors are required to retain 100% of net-after-tax shares earned from the annual equity grants until the then-current minimum ownership level is met and may not sell or otherwise transfer Common Stock unless he or she has satisfied the then-current minimum ownership level.

Based on the Company’s stock price as of July 31, 2024, among the current directors, Mr. Martin and Mr. Singer are in compliance with the current Director Stock Ownership and Retention Guidelines. Ms. Hoffman, Mr. Madnani, Mr. Nader, Ms. Walker and Ms. Warren are still within the initial period to achieve the minimum ownership level.

Director Compensation Table

The compensation for our directors who served as directors for the Company in Fiscal 2024 is as follows: