Laxman Narasimhan steps down as chief executive and board member of Starbucks “with immediate effect,” the company said in a statement. Narasimhan left his position less than a year and a half, after he succeeded Howard Schultz.  

He will be replaced by Brian Niccol, a renowned executive, who successfully turned around Chipotle. The 50-year-old executive will also assume the role of chairman at Starbucks.  

Who is Laxman Narasimhan? 

Laxman Narasimhan was born in 1967 in Maharashtra’s Pune. He holds a degree in engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune. He also did an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in International Studies from The Lauder Institute.  

Narasimhan began his career at McKinsey as a trainee before moving to PepsiCo in 2012. Later, he served as CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, from September 2019 to September 2022. He began working for Starbucks as its interim CEO in October 2022. Later, he took over from Howard Schultz in April 2023, as the company’s CEO.  

Why Starbucks Replaced Him? 

Under Narasimhan’s direction, Starbucks saw the fall of over 20% of stock price, largely due to the declining sales in China and U.S. In addition, he also grappled with competing activist investor and had to deal with the criticism from former CEO Howard.  

Starbucks has had three different leaders in the past 18 months. And following the announcement of Brian Niccol’s appointment, Chipotle’s shares fell over 9% while Starbucks’ 

r price rose over 14% in premarket trading.  

Mellody Hobson, the chair of Starbucks, who stepped down to take the role of lead independent director, revealed that the board had been considering Narasimhan’s replacement for several months.  

Brian Niccol 

Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle since 2018, worked at Taco Bell at Yum Brands. Under Niccol’s direction, Chipotle’s stock increased by 773%, recovering it from a foodborne illness scandal. Chipotle has seen an uptick in revenue, compared to other restaurants that experienced a decline in consumer spending.