Indian-origin Laxman Narasimhan has been in the news for bagging the top post at global coffee giant Starbucks. Narasimhan will replace interim CEO Howard Schultz and will join from October 1. Schultz will remain interim chief until April, after which he will continue as a board member.
His resignation as CEO of Reckitt Benckiser a day earlier had come as a surprise. The maker of Lysol, Dettol, and Durex brands said the 55-year-old was stepping down from the role to relocate to the US.
Born on April 15, 1967, in Pune, Narasimhan was raised in the Maharashtra city. He opted for a degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Engineering Pune, Savitribai Phule Pune University. After completing his engineering, he moved to The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania for MBA in finance.
His career took off when he got to work as an executive for the global management consulting firm McKinsey from 1993 to 2012, progressing to the post of director and location manager of its office in Delhi.
Narasimhan then got an offer from the beverages giant PepsiCo in 2012. There, he rose to the rank of chief commercial officer and later served as the CEO of PepsiCo Latin America.
He became the first external candidate to take the helm of UK-based consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser as CEO in 2019.
The number of Indian and Indian-origin CEOs in the US has grown yet again, with Narasimhan taking up the Starbucks CEO role.
At Starbucks, according to Schultz, Narasimhan is “uniquely positioned” to lead the company, with a demonstrated track record of growth in mature and emerging markets as well.
Schultz, a long-time CEO who helped shape Starbucks after buying it in 1987, came out of retirement in April when his handpicked successor Kevin Johnson retired. He takes home just $1 as his salary.
Schultz and the Starbucks board had been hunting for a long-term successor, intending to announce the new CEO in the fall.
Reckitt describes Narasimhan as an outstanding leader with exceptional strategic capabilities and consumer insight with a proven track record in developing purpose-led brands and driving consumer-centric and digital innovation.
Narasimhan also led projects in the public sector in the areas of skill building and education. He is a fellow of a think tank, the American non-profit Foreign Policy Association and Brookings Institution.
First Published: Sept 2, 2022 2:19 PM IST
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