Starbucks on Tuesday replaced its Indian-origin CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Brian Niccol, chief executive at Chipotle. Narasimhan steps down as chief executive and as a member of the Starbucks board “with immediate effect,” the coffee giant said in an official statement.
A veteran of PepsiCo and other consumer brands, Laxman Narasimhan took over the top spot in March 2023 after a period of working with longtime Starbucks CEO and interim boss Howard Schultz.
Last month, Narasimhan spoke about the importance of work-life balance in an interview with Fortune magazine, and declared that he "almost never" worked past 6 pm.
Narasimhan said he finished his work by 6 pm, adding that if anyone got a minute of his time after 6 pm, they "better be sure that it's important".
"I am very disciplined about balance. If there's anything after 6 pm and I am in town, it's got to be a pretty high bar to keep me away from the family. Anybody who gets a minute of time after that better be sure that it's important… Because if not it will just wait for another day," the 57-year-old had said.
This quote from his July 7 interview has now gone viral on social media with several users claiming that he was "fired".
Starbucks Praises Laxman Narasimhan
In its statement, Starbucks praised Laxman Narasimhan, saying he drove innovation in the brand’s supply chains and boosted its store operations during his tenure.
"In the face of some challenging headwinds, Laxman has been laser focused on improving the business to meet the needs of our customers and partners. We all wish him the very best and know he will do great things in the future," Mellody Hobson, Starbucks board chair, said.
"On behalf of the board, I want to sincerely thank Laxman for his contributions to Starbucks, and his dedication to our people and brand," Hobson added.
The leadership shifts at Starbucks come at a time when the American multinational chain of coffeehouses is pushing to turn around its business while contending with broad-based sales declines in its most recent financial results.
Starbucks has cited weakening consumer sentiment and difficult market conditions in China as factors in its troubles.