MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) announced today that Board Chairman
Hatim
Tyabji
is retiring
from the Board effective June 9, 2015. Tyabji has been a Board
member since 1998 and chairman of the Best Buy Board of Directors since
2012.
Best Buy President and CEO,
Hubert Joly
, will succeed Tyabji and take on
the additional role of Board chairman.
Russell P. Fradin
, President and
CEO of SunGard and a Best Buy Board member since April 2013, will serve
as Lead Independent Director.
“My association with Best Buy has been more rewarding than words can
express,” Tyabji said. “I have had a front-row seat to one of the most
exciting business growth stories in recent times and, more recently,
have participated in what I believe will be considered a historic
business transformation. It is this transformation, led by my colleague
and friend,
Hubert Joly
that I count as one of the highlights of my long
career. Hubert and I have developed a wonderful partnership, and I am
delighted he will succeed me as Board chairman.”
Tyabji continued: “I want to thank my colleagues on the Board – past and
present – and, just as importantly, the 125,000 men and women of this
great company. To have played even a small role in Best Buy’s story has
been a great honor; leaving this company is more difficult than I could
have anticipated. But, the time was right. We have moved from turnaround
to transformation. Hubert, the Board and the executive team are prepared
to take this company into the future.”
“Hatim is an admirable leader who possesses a remarkable combination of
wisdom, intellect, tenacity and heart,” Joly said. “His advice has been
crucial as we worked to stabilize and grow Best Buy, and our resurgence
is in no small measure the result of his dedication to this company. I
am honored to succeed him as Board chair and thank my colleagues on the
Board for the confidence they have placed in me. I will do all that I
can to live up to this honor as we continue to build an exciting,
successful Best Buy that delivers growth for all stakeholders.”
Fradin assumes the role of Lead Independent Director upon Joly’s
appointment as Board chairman on June 9, 2015. The Board believes that
Fradin, with his strong leadership background and demonstrated skill in
working with Joly and the other Board members as chair of the
Compensation Committee, is well-suited to represent the independent
interests of stakeholders and, along with the other active and
independent Board leaders, help Joly guide the Board through the next
stage of the company’s transformation.
The company also announced the retirement of directors
Sanjay Khosla
and
Allen U. Lenzmeier
, effective June 9, 2015. Khosla joined the Board in
2008 and brought key insights to the company’s global strategy.
Lenzmeier, a distinguished long-time executive in the company, rejoined
the Board in 2013. With the addition of four new Board members in the
past two years, both Khosla and Lenzmeier felt this was an appropriate
time.
“On behalf of the Board, let me thank Sanjay and Al for their service
and unwavering commitment to Best Buy and our customers, shareholders
and employees,” Tyabji said. “I am grateful for their service and wish
them only the very best.”

Source: Best Buy Co., Inc.