Starbucks’ new CEO will travel to and from office by private jet: Will travel 1,600 Km daily from California to Seattle, company will bear the expenses

Starbucks’ new CEO Brian Nicol will travel 1,600 km daily to and from his new office. According to the employment agreement (offer letter), Nicol, who lives in California, will travel to and from Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle by corporate jet. He had refused to shift from California for the job. Now he will have to go to the office 3 days a week. Nicol will get an annual base salary of $1.6 million. According to the offer letter, he will be eligible for a cash bonus of $3.6 million to $7.2 million based on performance. He also has the opportunity to earn annual equity awards of up to $23 million. CEO changed because sales in America and China decreased
The reasons behind such an arrangement for Nicol are related to Starbucks’ recent performance. He will replace the current CEO Laxman Narasimhan. Under Laxman’s leadership, the company suffered losses in America and China. There has been a decline this year as well. Lakshman joined Starbucks in 2022. When Brian was the CEO of Chipotle, the company’s stock rose by about 773%. Brian Niccol also got a similar deal in 2018
This commuting arrangement is not new for Niccol. When he was the CEO of Chipotle in 2018, he had made a similar deal. Chipotle was headquartered in Colorado. The headquarters was shifted to California just three months after Niccol took charge. Niccol was leading Chipotle Mexican Grill since March 2018. Niccol was previously the CEO and director of the company. He became the chairman of the board in March 2020. Before joining Chipotle, Niccol was the CEO of Taco Bell. Here he was working as the President of the company as well as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer.