Brian J. Dunn, age 49, officially became the chief executive officer of Best Buy Co. at the annual meeting of shareholders in late June. Dunn, a 24-year Best Buy veteran, had been the CE retailer’s president and chief operating officer.

During his tenure as president/COO, Dunn drove the company’s domestic business to new highs in terms of market share, employee retention, vendor relationships and customer satisfaction scores. He established himself as a brand representative, strong motivator of employees and architect of organizational changes.

The domestic stores, the Geek Squad and the company’s marketing, customer experience and merchant functions all currently report to Dunn. He also is personally involved with managing key vendor relationships.

Dunn’s career began as a Best Buy store associate in 1985 when there were only a dozen stores. In 1989, he became a store manager and in 1990 a district manager. The New Jersey native, who has spent most of his life living in Minnesota, was promoted again in 1996 and 1998 before becomingsenior vice president in 2000 of division 3 retail sales, which encompassed all of Best Buy’s East Coast operations. He was named executive vice president of U.S. retail in 2002, was made president of retail - North America in 2004 and advanced to president and COO of the company in 2006.

Dunn succeeds Bradbury H. Anderson, 60, who served as Best Buy’s vice chairman and CEO for seven years.

“Brad Anderson had the vision and fortitude to flip this company’s focus from the products we sell to the customers we serve,” said Dunn. “He has been a courageous, tenacious leader for this company and I am personally grateful for his mentorship.”

While CEO, Anderson declined to receive personal stock options, instead suggesting they could more appropriately reward extraordinary performance of hardworking employees not eligible for the company’s long-term incentive program. Since 2003, more than 8,500 employees have received grants totaling more than 2.3 million options due to Anderson’s decision to forgo options.

“To ensure that Brad’s legacy lives on at Best Buy,I am honored to announce the creation of the Brad Anderson Legacy Program, which intends to award 200,000 shares of Best Buy stock each year to deserving employees,” said Dunn.