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Starbucks new boss Laxman Narasimhan takes reins of coffee giant early from Howard Schultz

Published: 10:20 20 Mar 2023 EDT

Starbucks Corp - new boss Laxman Narasimhan takes reins of world’s biggest coffee chain early from Howard Schultz
Despite stepping down earlier than anticipated, Schultz is still expected to testify in front of a Senate panel on March 29 about the company’s alleged union-busting activity

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) has handed the reins of the world’s largest coffee chain to its incoming chief executive officer Laxman Narasimhan nearly two weeks earlier than planned.

The Seattle-based company said that longtime Starbucks boss and interim CEO Howard Schultz exited the role on Monday, with Narasimhan officially taking over and joining the company’s board. The handoff was expected to happen around April 1.

This essentially means that Narasimhan, 55, will lead the coffee giant’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, as Starbucks is set to deal with several contentious matters facing the coffee chain.

The Wall Street Journal reported that during the company’s annual shareholder meeting, investors are set to weigh several proposals related to the chain’s governance and management, including its response to a unionization drive among US baristas.

READ: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz may have to appear at US Senate hearing over union-busting claims

Despite stepping down earlier than anticipated, Schultz is still expected to testify in front of a Senate panel on March 29 about the company’s alleged union-busting activity, according to media reports.

Narasimhan left his CEO role at UK-based consumer-products company Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) in September last year and has spent the intervening months studying Starbucks’s culture and operations. He also previously worked at PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) and McKinsey.

Schultz said in a letter to Narasimhan and other top executives that Starbucks was his life’s work, and that he entrusted them to lead the chain forward.

“Today, I am entrusting you all with Starbucks – something that holds a place in my heart second only to that of my beloved family,” Schultz wrote in the letter. “As I turn Starbucks over to you now, know that you have my utmost confidence, trust and love.”

According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), nearly 290 company-owned Starbucks cafes in the US have voted to unionize as of mid-February. Some say that Schultz has pushed back aggressively against unionization, leading to scrutiny from pro-union lawmakers such as US Senator Bernie Sanders, a pro-union Vermont independent.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive

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