Richard Willis Resigns as B&T Chair/CEO, Eugster To Succeed
by Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 1/7/2008 7:14:00 AM
- Willis departs to spend time with family
- Ex-Musicland Stores CEO Jack W. Eugster named new CEO/chair
- Library division head George Coe says B&T is “strong & stable”
“I want to spend more time with my family,” Richard Willis said, January 4 announcing his resignation as Baker & Taylor (B&T) chair and CEO after four years at the helm. B&T board member Jack W. Eugster, the former 
CEO/Prexy of Musicland Stores, Inc., has been tapped to succeed Willis as the company’s top executive. Arnie Wight continues as the company’s president.
Under Willis’s tenure, the company nearly doubled sales to $2 billion. George Coe, president of B&T institutional—the library division—said that B&T remains “strong and stable.” Castle Harlan, a private equity firm, acquired B&T in mid-2006, from Willis Stein & Partners, also a private equity firm.
