Starbucks' neo-CEO under indictment for using company plane for home-work commute
Not just a lot of smart working: the newly appointed CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, came under fire for particularly favourable working conditions he negotiated for himself, including the use of a company plane for the home-work journey
2' min read
2' min read
He has not yet had time to take the helm of Starbucks, the world-famous US coffee chain, and already he has to endure a tornado of criticism for managing to negotiate particularly favourable (for him) working conditions. The newly appointed CEO, Brian Niccol, has come under fire after it was revealed that he will travel almost 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from his family home in Newport Beach, California, to the company's headquarters in Seattle on a corporate jet. Criticism, as always pouring in via social media, points the finger at the discrepancy between the company's public stance on green issues and the lifestyles of its executives and the deal negotiated by its new CEO, who is expected to officially take over the helm on 9 September.
The job offer made to Niccol was that the top manager would not have to travel to the company's headquarters: he would be able to use a company plane for business trips and also to travel from his home to Starbucks headquarters. In addition, the company would set up a small office in Newport Beach that Niccol could use when working from California.
Brian Niccol's annual base salary will be $1.6 million. On top of that, he could receive performance-related bonuses of up to $7.2 million and up to $23 million per year in Starbucks shares. Even these amounts have raised more than one criticism online.
Niccol comes from Mexican fast food chain Chipotle, where he has been ceo since 2018, helping it recover from a crisis after outbreaks of food poisoning. During his time at the helm of the company, sales doubled and its shares rose from less than $7 each to more than $50. Chipotle has also opened nearly 1,000 new shops and introduced new technology to automate food preparation. In recent months, it has been seen as a bright spot in the restaurant industry, with many companies reporting that this growth has been seen as a bright spot in the restaurant industry, hence perhaps the bargaining power that Niccol has been able to display but which has landed its new company, Starbucks, in the eye of the storm.
