Indian-born Laxman Narasimhan is going to be the new Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks, one of the largest international coffee chains.
Laxman Narasimhan will join this global coffee brand on October 1 and will be succeeding Howard Schultz, who was appointed as the interim CEO of the coffee chain in 2017. After relocation from London to Seattle, Laxman Narasimhan will join the board of Starbucks on April 1 next year, after working with the interim CEO.
Who is Laxman Narasimhan?
Laxman Narasimhan was the former CEO of Reckitt, an Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer goods company, that manufactures Durex, Dettol, Veet, Air Wick and so on. He was previously the Chief Commercial Officer of PepsiCo.
Laxman Narasimhan was born and raised in Pune, India, and graduated from the Savitribai Phule Pune University in India, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then went on to pursue his Masters's in German and International Studies from The Lauder Institute in Pennsylvania.
Laxman Narasimhan then took up MBA, specialising in Finance, from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
What does the world have to say about this?
A number of public figures have taken up Twitter to congratulate the new CEO of Starbucks and to convey their wishes to Laxman Narasimhan.
Major Gaurav Arya, an Indian army veteran, tweeted, “Congratulations Laxman Narasimhan on taking over as CEO of @Starbucks . How about introducing South Indian filter coffee to your global customers? There is no better coffee.”
Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra groups, tweeted, “What was initially a trickle of water has turned into a Tsunami. The appointment of Indian-origin CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies is now an unstoppable trend. International boardrooms consider them to be almost ‘safe’ leadership bets.”
Govimdraj Ethiraj, founder of FactChecker.in, BOOM, and the founder and Editor of Bloomberg TV India also tweeted to extend his congratulations.
What does Starbucks have to say?
Starbuck is now facing an unstable period with more than 200 of its stores having been taken over by the worker's unions in the past year. This has pushed the company to offer better benefits and wages at a time of inflation and economic crisis.
The Independent Starbucks Board of Directors Chair, Mellodt Hobson said that the "hands-on experience" with the global consumer-facing business makes Laxman "the ideal choice to accelerate Starbucks growth and capture the opportunities ahead of us". She also added that she is thrilled to welcome Laxman as the next CEO of Starbucks.
The current interim CEO Howard Schultz said that, “...he is the right leader to take Starbucks into its next chapter. He is uniquely positioned to shape this work and lead the company forward with his partner-centred approach and demonstrated track record of building capabilities and driving growth in both mature and emerging markets.”
"The perspectives he brings will be a strong asset as we build on our heritage in this new era of greater well-being. I greatly look forward to our partnership over the coming months and years,” Schultz added.
What does the new CEO say about this?
“I am humbled to be joining this iconic company at such a pivotal time, as the reinvention and investments in the partner and customer experiences position us to meet the changing demands we face today and set us up for an even stronger future,” said Narasimhan.
“I look forward to working closely with Howard, the Board, and the entire leadership team ” he added.
Who are the other global CEOs of Indian origin?
CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai
CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella
CEO of Chanel, Leela Nair
CEO of Twitter, Parag Agrawal
CEO of Onlyfans, Amrapali Gan
CEO of Adobe, Shantanu Narayen
CEO of Bata, Sandeep Kataria
Former CEO of PepsiCo and current board member of Amazon, Indira Nooyi
