Laxman Narasimhan, the chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, abruptly announced his resignation on Thursday, citing “personal and family reasons.” His new family is the multi-billion dollar company Starbucks.
Narasimhan is joining the Starbucks organization and is leaving the Reckitt headquarters in Slough for a position in Seattle.
The billionaire who turned Starbucks into a multi-billion-dollar corporation, Howard Schultz, hailed Narasimhan’s “passion of investing in humanity” in a statement. Under pressure, Starbucks battles a widespread domestic unionization push while pursuing reviving international expansion. More than 200 Starbucks locations in the US voted to unionize under the name Workers United, putting the company under union pressure. Negative press coverage and legal disputes are the result of the conflict.
The most recent position Narasimhan had was CEO of the health and hygiene giant Reckitt, which owns products like Lysol, Durex, and Mucinex. He made his resignation from that position public early on Thursday. He will begin working for Starbucks in October, learning about the organization and its strategy for reinvention, before taking over as CEO in April. Previously employed at PepsiCo, Narasimhan held a variety of positions including global chief commercial officer. He was a senior partner at McKinsey before joining the multinational food and beverage company.
The coffee chain that Howard Schultz built into a significant worldwide brand will still have an interim CEO. After Narasimhan succeeds him, Schultz will continue to serve on the Starbucks board.
Since Kevin Johnson, his hand-picked successor, left the position in April after five years on the job, Schultz has been in charge. Schultz rejoined the business as its acting CEO, receiving a salary of just $1. With the objective of unveiling the new CEO in the fall, Schultz and the Starbucks board searched for a long-term replacement in the interim.
