In a sudden move, Barnes & Noble CEO Steve Riggio has stepped down from his post as CEO of the company to become the Vice Chairman for B&N. Replacing him will be William Lynch, who, up until now, was the President of BN.com.

For overall activities regarding the company’s retail business, COO Mitchell Klipper is promoted to CEO.

Lynch came to B&N in 2009 to head BN.com and to focus on the company’s digital strategy. Now that B&N’s future relies heavily on digital, it only makes sense for the company to promote him. Prior to B&N, Lynch served as VP, Marketing and General Manager at HSN Interactive. Before that, he was CEO and Co-Founder, Gifts.com, and also served as VP/GM, E-Commerce, Palm, where he oversaw Palm.com, the Palm Online Store, the Palm Software Connection, and the Palm.Net wireless ISP.