Starbucks’ (SBUX) third Howard Schultz era is gone. Schultz’s successor as CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, assumed control of the massive coffee retailer roughly two weeks sooner than scheduled.
On September 1, Narasimhan was chosen to take over as CEO, and he was scheduled to start on April 1.
Nonetheless, Starbucks said that he will start immediately and preside over this Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting.
Being named CEO of Starbucks “humbled” Narasimhan, who also said that the company has boundless potential to benefit partners, clients, investors, and communities “through every cup and every relationship.”
Starbucks is “like a river” that is constantly expanding and changing, “carving a new course and pushing on to something better,” according to Schultz in a message to senior leadership. “You all are the future of Starbucks,” he assured them.
Starbucks was previously run by Schultz from 1986 to 2000, and then from 2008 to 2017. In April of last year, he returned to the corporation on an interim basis and started to make changes right away. He informed workers that Starbucks “is facing new realities in a transformed world” on his first day back at work and that he was coming back to help develop the “next Starbucks.”
Schultz has changed management during the last 11 months, paused the share repurchase programme, invested money on renovating cafés and stores, and launched new goods.
Upon Schultz’s return, Starbucks stock initially fell, reaching a two-year low in May. Yet since then, they have increased by more than 42%. They had a 1% gain today.
