Biography

Dr. Robert J. Shapiro has served as a director of Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. since February 2020. Dr. Shapiro previously served as a member of the board of directors of Medici Ventures, our former wholly-owned subsidiary, until April 2021 and previously served on the board of directors of MLG, a Medici Ventures portfolio company. Dr. Shapiro is the chairman and founder of Sonecon, LLC, a private consultancy firm he founded in 2001 that advises the U.S. government, U.S. and foreign businesses, and non-profit organizations on economic matters. He has advised three U.S. presidents, numerous U.S. senators and representatives, members of the Clinton, Bush and Obama cabinets, foreign government officials, executives at Fortune 100 companies, and non-profit organizations. Dr. Shapiro is also a senior fellow of the Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy, director of the NDN Center on Globalization, and a member of the advisory boards of Cote Capital, the Carbon Pricing Initiative, and Civil Rights Defenders. From 1997 to 2001, he was U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. Prior to that, he was co-founder and vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute and, before that, the legislative director and economic counsel to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan. Dr. Shapiro also served as the principal economic advisor to Bill Clinton in his 1991-92 campaign, a senior economic advisor to Hilary Rodham Clinton in 2016, and advised the presidential campaigns of Joseph Biden, Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Al Gore. He has been a fellow of Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Fugitsu Institute. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Harvard University, a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an A.B. from the University of Chicago. The specific experience, qualifications, attributes, and skills that led the Board to conclude that Dr. Shapiro should serve as a director considering our business and structure were his experience with foreign businesses, governments, and economics.

As a result of the above and other experiences, Dr. Shapiro possesses particular knowledge, skill and/or experience in a number of other areas that strengthen the Board’s collective knowledge, experience, and capabilities, including but not limited to senior leadership, customer experience, finance or accounting, regulatory or government, technology, global or international business, strategic planning, and environmental sustainability.