An Indian man is set to become the next CEO of Starbucks

Overview

Laxman Narasimhan, 55, an Indian national, will succeed Howard Schultz as Starbucks  CEO. Narasimhan graduated from the College of Engineering at the University of Pune in India with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Starbucks has announced that Laxman Narasimhan will succeed Howard Schultz as the organisation’s CEO, working closely with him until he assumes the position and joins the Board on April 1, 2023.

Narasimhan graduated from the College of Engineering at the University of Pune in India with a degree in mechanical engineering. He holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and an MA in German and International Studies from The Lauder Institute at The University of Pennsylvania. Nearly 30 years of leadership and consulting experience for international consumer-facing brands are brought by Narasimhan. Most recently, he was the CEO of Reckitt, a company with headquarters in the UK and which owns products like Lysol, Durex, and Mucinex. He made his intention to leave that position known early on Thursday.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Narasimhan served as the company’s global chief commercial officer and a senior partner at McKinsey. Before taking over as CEO in April 2023, he joined Starbucks in October 2022 to learn more about the organisation and its reinvention strategy. In addition, he serves as a director of Verizon and is a trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former member of the UK Prime Minister’s Build Back Better Council.

Starbucks board chair Mellody Hobson said in a statement that “His deep, hands-on experience driving strategic transformations at global consumer-facing businesses makes him the ideal choice to accelerate Starbucks growth and capture the opportunities ahead of us.”

Howard Schultz will remain the company’s interim CEO through April 2023 while Narasimhan relocates from London to Seattle as the new CEO.