Starbucks, the coffee giant, on Thursday, September 1st, announced that the company had appointed its first Indian-origin Chief Executive Officer, Laxman Narasimhan. He will join the coffee giant on October 1st, after replacing Howard Schultz, who will continue as the interim chief until April 2023. The 55-year-old will be lunged into one of the world’s most prominent corporate leadership roles, overseeing roughly 35,000 stores and 383,000 employees globally. A former senior PepsiCo executive, he has most recently led Reckitt Benckiser, the British conglomerate that makes Durex condoms and Lysol disinfectant.
Starbucks Chairwoman, Mellody Hobson, said that the company believes it has found an exceptional individual to be its next CEO as Narasimhan is a tested leader. The company stated that its new CEO would relocate from London to the Seattle area and join the company later this year in October.
“We have asked Schultz to remain interim CEO until April 2023 to assist the new CEO. Narasimhan will assume the role of CEO on April 1st. He will take over the world’s largest coffee chain in several locations and sales,” Hobson added.
