C-Suite Transitions – Laxman Narasimhan Named CEO Of Starbucks

With over 34,948 stores in 80 countries, Starbucks (SBUX) is the world’s largest coffee chain with its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. Current interim CEO Howard Schultz has been with the company for over four decades and this is his third stint as CEO. Mr. Schultz retired from Starbucks in 2018 but rejoined as interim chief executive officer and a member of the company’s Board of Directors on April 4, 2022, after Kevin Johnson announced his retirement as President and CEO of the company.

On August 2, 2022, Starbucks reported results for the fiscal third quarter that ended July 3, 2022. Net revenues for the North America segment grew 13% year-over-year to $6.1 billion in Q3 FY22. The growth was primarily driven by a 9% increase in company-operated comparable store sales. Operating income increased to $1.33 billion in Q3 FY22, up from $1.3 billion in Q3 FY21.

On September 1, 2022, Starbucks announced that Laxman Narasimhan will become the company’s next Chief Executive Officer and will join Starbucks as incoming CEO on October 1, 2022. He will be replacing Howard Schultz who will continue as interim CEO until April 1, 2023.

Laxman Narasimhan has been serving as Chief Executive Officer of Reckitt Benckiser Group, a multinational Anglo-Dutch consumer goods firm since September 2019. He started significantly transforming Reckitt’s business within months of joining the company. Mr. Narasimhan hired Kris Licht, a top executive from his previous company PepsiCo, to fill the role of Chief Transformation Officer and replaced Reckitt’s CFO.

Laxman held a number of key positions at PepsiCo from 2012 to 2019, including Global Chief Commercial Officer, before joining Reckitt. Before joining PepsiCo, Laxman worked for McKinsey & Company for 19 years in a variety of positions from 1993 to 2012.

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