Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan now in role as Howard Schultz leaves early
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz back stage with new Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan at Starbucks' 2022 investor day. Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images
That Starbucks' next CEO would be Laxman Narasimhan is no surprise. That he would become CEO on Monday, however, was.
Why it matters: The most immediate impact of the new timeline is that Narasimhan will lead Starbucks' annual shareholder meeting Thursday.
- It also means that when Schultz testifies at a U.S. Senate hearing next week about the coffee chain’s alleged union-busting activity, he won't technically be in charge.
- Starbucks announced Narasimhan as its next CEO last September, and has said he'd take the reins on April 1.
Zoom in: The company had already resisted prior requests for Schultz's appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, arguing that he'd be on this way out soon enough.
- He agreed only after pressure of a subpoena from committee chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Between the lines: Starbucks has aggressively tried to fend off unionization.
- Of the roughly 9,300 company-operated Starbucks locations in the U.S., 290 have voted to unionize. None have successfully negotiated a contract with Starbucks.
- The company has been subject to 509 unfair labor practice charges. The union, Starbucks Workers United, has been subject to 102, the Seattle Times reported.
What we're watching: Experts expect Narasimhan to stay the course.
- “I expect them to keep pushing as hard as they can to stop any organizing,” Kevin Reuning, a political science professor at Miami University, who is following these efforts, told Bloomberg last month.
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