Starbucks ousts CEO Laxman Narasimhan for Chipotle replacement

WASHINGTON: Satya Nadella has taken Microsoft to dizzying heights and Sundar Pichai hasn't done too badly with Alphabet/Google either. From FedEx CEO (Raj Subramanium) to the CEO of grocery chain Albertsons (Vivek Sankaran), Indian-American success in c-suites beyond tech companies is the stuff of lore.

But in a rare setback to the story, Starbucks announced on Tuesday that it is replacing its CEO Laxman Narasimhan after only 16 months at the helm, after indicating he failed to arrest the beverage chain's flagging sales. Investor activism and disappointment at Narasimhan's performance on part of Starbucks' chairman emeritus Howard Schultz, who handpicked him as CEO, are reasons being attributed for the ouster.

Narasimhan will be leaving immediately and be succeeded by Chipotle CEO Brian Nichol, the company said in a statement.

The Pune-born Narasimhan joined Seattle-headquartered Starbucks as CEO and moved from London, where he was previously CEO of the consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser. His taking over came with slowing sales at Starbucks' primary markets, US and China, which he could not staunch, despite, according to one account, the six months he spent learning about Starbucks’ business, including training as a barista. Starbucks' stock dropped more than 20 per cent during his leadership.

Meanwhile, Chipotle has been on a tear since Nichol's took over in 2018 after previously helming Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. It's stock has soared more than 700 per cent under him as US customers have begun to disdain vanity drinks for more essential food during inflationary times.

In a typical pro-forma statement, Starbucks' board thanked Narasimhan for his services, saying, “In the face of some challenging headwinds, Laxman has been laser focused on improving the business to meet the needs of our customers and partners. We all wish him the very best and know he will do great things in the future.”

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