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From day one,\u00a0Starbucks<\/a> Corp.\u2019s incoming Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol will have more power than his predecessor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Niccol, who is leaving\u00a0\u00a0Chipotle Mexican Grill<\/a> Inc., will become CEO and chairman the moment he joins\u00a0Starbucks on Sept. 9. By contrast,\u00a0Laxman Narasimhan spent more than five months as the CEO-in-training under company patriarch Howard Schultz\u00a0and he never took on the board chairman position. Only after an intense period of shadowing Schultz\u00a0did he gain the ability to set the company\u2019s strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The vastly different handovers underscore the two executives\u2019 contrasting resumes \u2014\u00a0Narasimhan had no restaurant experience, while Niccol has spent 20 years as a\u00a0leader at Chipotle and Yum! Brands<\/a> Inc.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, Narasimhan joined a company still helmed by Schultz,\u00a0who\u00a0 set\u00a0aggressive sales growth targets<\/a>\u00a0before handing over the reins. Schultz\u00a0continued\u00a0<\/a>to provide feedback during Narasimhan\u2019s tenure, both privately and in public missives on LinkedIn<\/a>.\u00a0As problems piled\u00a0up after Schultz\u2019s departure, Narasimhan\u00a0was forced to cut the company\u2019s financial forecasts three times in less than a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Niccol now steps into a job where\u00a0sales targets are\u00a0lower, his title carries more weight, and the shadow of Schultz \u2014\u00a0while not entirely gone \u2014\u00a0has diminished.<\/p>\n He \u201cdefinitely has more authority, and I think that\u2019s by design,\u201d\u00a0said Eric Gonzalez, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. \u201cHis track record speaks for himself. So that just shows you the confidence that they have in him.\u201d<\/p>\n Starbucks is fighting off slumping demand from inflation-battered customers\u00a0in its biggest markets, the US and China.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0working\u00a0to cut long\u00a0wait times<\/a>\u00a0at overwhelmed stores. And it faces\u00a0activist investors<\/a>,\u00a0contract negotiations<\/a>\u00a0with unionized workers and\u00a0boycotts\u00a0<\/a>about the brand\u2019s perceived stance in the Middle East.<\/p>\n While Niccol has extensive experience in the restaurant industry, he\u2019s never managed a company with the size and scope of Starbucks.<\/p>\n The world\u2019s largest coffee chain operates in more than 80 markets while Chipotle is largely focused on the US. With headcount of about 381,000, Starbucks has more than three times as many workers as Chipotle\u00a0and works with licensees around the world in addition to operating its own locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those who have worked with Niccol say he\u2019s up to the challenge. They say he\u2019s a\u00a0decisive, down-to-earth leader with a track record of stabilizing troubled businesses \u2013 and then turning them around. His experience has\u00a0reassured Starbucks investors<\/a>, though he\u2019ll need to win over workers skeptical of how Chipotle\u00a0responded to a unionization drive<\/a>\u00a0during his tenure.<\/p>\n In an internal meeting hours after Niccol\u2019s appointment as CEO, board members and other senior leaders\u00a0were asked about his history with unions and whether Starbucks\u00a0would continue its ongoing\u00a0contract negotiations<\/a>, according to people familiar with the matter.\u00a0Sara Kelly, the company\u2019s human resources chief, said talks would continue in good faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mellody Hobson, who has\u00a0served<\/a>\u00a0as board chair since 2021\u00a0and will become lead independent director after Niccol joins,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in an interview with CNBC that\u00a0Starbucks has\u00a0made significant inroads with unionized workers and \u201cwill stay that course.\u201d<\/p>\n A representative for Niccol didn\u2019t provide comment.\u00a0<\/strong>Narasimhan declined to comment.<\/p>\n Like other Starbucks leaders, whether external or promoted from within, Niccol will undergo what the company calls an \u201cimmersion\u201d\u00a0 process that includes learning the culture and history, spending time in stores and manufacturing facilities, and more, according to a Starbucks spokesperson. But he\u2019ll have the authority to immediately start guiding strategy. Hobson has said Niccol knows what to do\u00a0and will have the wheel.<\/p>\n Niccol, who\u00a0enjoys<\/a>\u00a0a caff\u00e8 americano with a cookie on the side,\u00a0is an assertive manager who gets along with other senior leaders, according to people who have worked with him. They say he doesn\u2019t micromanage and tends not to raise his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n During his time at Taco Bell from 2011 to 2018, he used\u00a0his marketing chops to help rebuild a brand that was reeling from product quality lawsuits. New dishes, such as Doritos Locos Tacos, harnessed the growing power of social media to drive demand among younger customers. He also expanded the breakfast menu and opened thousands of locations around the world. The brand remains one of the top performers at Yum.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2018, Niccol joined Chipotle amid food-safety issues that had damaged the brand\u2019s reputation and sparked pressure from activist investors. He\u00a0promptly\u00a0moved<\/a>\u00a0Chipotle\u2019s headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach, California, in what he has said was a bid to reset the company\u2019s culture, and over time resolved the safety issues. Under his management, Chipotle\u00a0accelerated service by creating a second burrito assembly line for digital orders, helping to relieve pressure on store employees. The company boosted sales by adding\u00a0drive-thrus and pickup shelves for to-go orders.<\/p>\n Niccol also\u00a0restructured<\/a>\u00a0some teams last year, which led to job cuts, and\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0corporate workers back to the office four days a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n For investors, it was all a resounding success: Chipotle shares rose more than eightfold during his tenure.<\/p>\n Former colleagues described Niccol as someone who listens intently and isn\u2019t afraid to get his hands dirty.\u00a0<\/p>\n While he took the private jet to visit\u00a0a farm to learn about Chipotle\u2019s supply chain, he offered to drive the rental car, according to a person familiar with the matter. On the\u00a0way, they visited Chipotle locations, where Niccol helped to wipe down tables.\u00a0When they got to the farm, workers asked for help moving newborn piglets. He didn\u2019t hesitate to scoop one up, this person said.<\/p>\n Niccol\u00a0said that when he joins a new team he seeks to build trust by inviting feedback before laying out a strategy, according to\u00a0a podcast he spoke on\u00a0earlier<\/a>\u00a0this year. \u201cThe first thing is take the time to understand who these people are before you start telling them what you want them to go do or what you believe we need to go do,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then comes the pep talk. \u201cIf you\u2019re here, it\u2019s because I want you on the team,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe in you. Hopefully you believe in me.\u201d<\/p>\n Starbucks is paying up\u00a0for his experience. Niccol\u2019s\u00a0compensation package is\u00a0worth<\/a>\u00a0around $113 million, and he\u00a0won\u2019t be required<\/a>\u00a0to move to Seattle, though the company says that\u2019s where he\u2019ll spend most of his time. Regarding the challenges he faces, Hobson told CNBC that Niccol \u201cis someone who, quite honestly, had been there, done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nUnion History<\/h2>\n
Carrying Piglets<\/h2>\n