Newly announced Starbucks CEO Biran Niccol is under fire for his plan to commute 1,600 kilometres from his home in Newport Beach, California, to company headquarters in Seattle by private jet.
Niccol accepted the CEO job on the basis he would “not be required to relocate to the company’s headquarters” but agreed to commute from his residence to the headquarters in Washington state “as is required to perform [his] duties and responsibilities,” the BBC reports. He is also permitted use of the company’s aircraft for “business related travel” as well as explicitly for “travel between [his] city of residence and the company’s headquarters”. Starbucks also promised to set up a small remote office in Newport Beach for Niccol to use when working from California.
The company’s hybrid work policy requires employees to be in the office at least three days a week; Starbucks has not confirmed if the same rules apply to Niccol or if the Newport Beach office would fulfil the requirement. A statement from the company asserts that Niccol’s “primary office and a majority of his time” will be spent in Seattle or visiting Starbucks facilities around the world.
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The revelation did little to endear Niccol to the public, who noted the disconnect between Starbuck’s public stance on green issues and such an unsustainable commute. Others focused more on his compensation, wondering aloud why CEO pay never comes up in conversations around rising prices. The offer puts his annual base pay at US$1.6 million but includes a performance-related bonus of up to US$7.2 million and up to US$23 million a year in Starbucks shares.
Starbucks announced earlier this month that Niccol would be replacing the current CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, in an effort to boost flagging sales amid a backlash to price increases and boycotts sparked by the Israel-Hamas war. Former executive Howard Schultz said Niccol was “the leader Starbucks needs at a pivotal moment in its history”.
Niccol earned that confidence during his tenure at Mexican fast food chain Chipotle, where he turned around a company imperilled by multiple outbreaks of food poisoning. Sales doubled under his leadership and share prices surged from under US$7 each to over US$50. Chipotle also opened nearly 1,000 new stores and implemented new technologies to automate food preparation. In a restaurant industry still reeling from the pandemic and cuts in customer spending, the chain has been seen as a bright spot.
