Why did the Starbucks CEO get fired?
This sudden leadership change comes as the coffee giant grapples with declining sales and increasing pressure from activist investors. Under Narasimhan’s leadership, Starbucks has struggled to maintain its market position, with the company reporting two consecutive quarters of declining comparable sales. Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down after 17 months in the role. His tenure at the company was tainted by falling sales, union clashes, and activist investors. One analyst said his exit from the top role was not surprising.What went disastrously wrong in Laxman Narasimhan’s 17 months as CEO of Starbucks. Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down after 17 months in the role. His tenure at the company was tainted by falling sales, union clashes, and activist investors. One analyst said his exit from the top role was not surprising.New Delhi: 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.In August 2024, Starbucks announced that Narasimhan would leave the company effective immediately, and was replaced by Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol. In October 2025, he joined the board of directors at Pendulum Therapeutics, a microbiome science company.The replacement of Laxman Narasimhan as Starbucks CEO is the result of growing dissatisfaction, particularly from activist investors, over the way the chain has been run, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, in a statement.
What happened to the former CEO of Starbucks?
In August 2024, Starbucks announced that Narasimhan would leave the company effective immediately, and was replaced by Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol. In October 2025, he joined the board of directors at Pendulum Therapeutics, a microbiome science company. Following a drift of customers away from the chain and two disastrous earnings reports, Starbucks’ board ousted then-CEO Laxman Narasimhan and poached Brian Niccol from Chipotle , where he led a turnaround after the burrito chain’s foodborne illness scandal.
What went wrong with Starbucks CEO?
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has faced more than his fair share of scrutiny since taking on the top role at the coffee company in September 2024. Replacing a predecessor who lasted only 18 months, Niccol met slumping sales and investor pressure, operational and customer experience issues and labour challenges. Niccol’s base salary is $1. Starbucks proxy statement.
Why are people boycotting Starbucks right now?
Key Reasons for Boycotting Starbucks: Union Busting & Labor Practices: Anti-Union Tactics: Starbucks faces accusations of aggressively fighting unionization efforts, with workers and the union filing numerous unfair labor practice charges. Our 400,000 partners around the globe have diverse views about a wide range of topics. Regardless of that spectrum of beliefs, Starbucks has been and remains a non-political organization. We do not support any political or religious cause. Learn more about Starbucks in the Middle East.Starbucks is a non-political organization and does not support individual political causes. The protests against Starbucks derived from the Winkler letter were not the first; earlier protests occurred in June 2002 in Cairo, Dubai and Beirut universities in response to Schultz’s criticism of Yasser Arafat.