Starbucks, one of the largest coffee chains in the world, has announced that Laxman Narasimhan has assumed the role of the chief executive officer of the company on Monday, months after he joined the American company. The 55-year-old also joined the board of directors of Starbucks. He joined the company in October. He had been learning the operations of the company by frequenting 30 stores. He also became a barista, a term for those who became an expert in making espresso coffee. He has replaced the founder of the company, Howard Schultz.
Narasimhan is of Indian origin. Before Starbucks, he was the CEO of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc. In the past, he has also worked for PepsiCo, McKinsey and Company. He is a mechanical engineer by training. He later completed his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Narasimhan was born and raised in Pune. He pursued mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering Pune. He later did an MA in German from the University of Pennsylvania. He later did MBA in finance.
He had worked for McKinsey for 19 years. He remained with the company till 2012. He worked out of their Delhi office. He later joined PepsiCo as the chief commercial officer.
He made headlines last year after it was revealed that he would receive 17.5 million dollars as annual compensation at Starbucks. This translates into Rs 144 crore per annum at the current exchange rates. This includes his yearly incentives.
He also received 1.6 million dollars (Rs 13 crore as signing bonus) and 9.3 million dollars worth of the company's shares.
At his previous company, his salary package was 6 million dollars.
The company has over 34000 stores world wide.
The company's revenue last year was $100 billion dollars.
