Starbucks Appoints Wharton Graduate Laxman Narasimhan As CEO; Yet Another Indian To Head A Multinational Giant!

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Starbucks Appoints Wharton Graduate Laxman Narasimhan As CEO; Yet Another Indian To Head A Multinational Giant!

American multinational company Starbucks has announced its new CEO. Yes, it’s another Indian making it to the helm of an American company. Laxman Narasimhan, a Pune-born Wharton grad, will soon head one of the most popular coffeehouses in the world. Fun-loving yet focused, Narasimhan has become a big shot in the corporate world through his hard work and resilience. Let’s get to know more about the new head of the world’s largest coffeehouse chain.

Narasimhan’s education and spectacular career

Laxman Narasimhan was born and raised in Pune, Maharashtra, and did his schooling at Loyola’s High School and St. Vincent Junior College. Post his schooling, Narasimhan got into Pune’s College of Engineering (CoEP) to pursue BTech in Mechanical Engineering. Narasimhan’s hunger for learning led him to do an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School.

After completing his MBA, Narasimhan joined a reputed management consulting firm in New Delhi, Mckinsey, where he worked for 19 years and rose to the rank of Director. He then joined PepsiCo and became the Chief Commercial Officer of the food and beverage Corporation. Currently, Narasimhan is the CEO of Reckitt Benckiser and shall join as the CEO of Starbucks in October 2022.

Narasimhan turned the tables for Reckitt: When Narasimhan joined Reckitt, the company was dealing with lackluster growth and debt. However, Narasimhan took up the baton to steer the company through the crisis by cost-cutting measures, investing in product research, and strengthening the supply chains. He sold off Reckitt's underperforming assets, a step that garnered investors’ appreciation for him.

For Laxman Narasimhan, life is a continuous learning process. During his childhood, he played cricket with friends while also taking football lessons and went on to play as a goalkeeper in his school team. Hence, Narasimhan has always been keen to add more to his skill set. Apart from his impressive educational qualifications, Narasimhan has earned a degree in German language and learned Spanish to interact with his Latin American colleagues at Reckitt.

CEO who loves Carnatic music and espresso shots!

As per media reports, Laxman Narasimhan would get a whopping annual salary of INR 140 crore as Starbucks' CEO. But for his school friends, Narasimhan is a regular humble, and hardworking man who they have known since childhood. They consider him a fun-loving human being who enjoys his espresso shots and different forms of music particularly Carnatic. In an interview with ToI, one of his friends said, “He is a big shot in the business world, but he is just a regular guy who does regular things with us. He goes to music concerts a lot and posts about them. He is always active in our WhatsApp group too.”

The appointment of Laxman Narasimhan as CEO of Starbucks is a great addition to the cohort of Indian-origin CEOs in global organizations. Here are some of them heading the biggest MNCs.