Consumer
Starbucks’ New CEO Will Take Charge Without Training Wheels
Longtime restaurant executive Brian Niccol won’t have the same lengthy training period that the previous chief, Laxman Narasimhan, had.
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From day one, Starbucks Corp.’s incoming Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol will have more power than his predecessor.
Niccol, who is leaving Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., will become CEO and chairman the moment he joins Starbucks on Sept. 9. By contrast, Laxman Narasimhan spent more than five months as the CEO-in-training under company patriarch Howard Schultz and he never took on the board chairman position. Only after an intense period of shadowing Schultz did he gain the ability to set the company’s strategy.