Laxman Narasimhan, an Indian-born executive, has been selected as Starbucks’ new CEO. Narasimhan, the CEO of the health and hygiene business Reckitt, will join Starbucks in October and succeed the venerable Howard Shultz as its interim CEO in April.
After completing his mechanical engineering degree at the University of Pune, Narasimhan moved to the west and earned a master’s degree in German and international studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania as well as an MBA in finance from the Wharton School.
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Prior to that, Narasimhan was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and had worked for PepsiCo as well as its global chief commercial officer. He had spent his time at McKinsey concentrating on its technology, retail, and consumer practices in the US, Asia, and India.
With this appointment, Narasimhan joins the expanding list of Indian CEOs of world’s biggest corporations, including Raj Subramaniam of FedEx, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, Punit Renjen of Deloitte, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet and Satya Nadella of Microsoft.
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Internet users are ecstatic right now, especially those in India. While many are pointing out that he is no longer Indian, others are still in awe of his success and insist that nobody can change his ancestry. And one of them is business magnate Anand Mahindra, who is one of the most social media-friendly business personalities in India.
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Anand Mahindra shares his happiness at Laxman Narasimhan’s appointment
Business tycoon Anand Mahindra, who is renowned for his outstanding and insightful remarks, has been added to the list by using Twitter to express his pleasure at Laxman Narasimhan’s appointment. In a tweet, the chairman of the Mahindra Group greeted Starbucks’ new CEO and noted how the hiring of CEOs of Indian descent had grown into an “unstoppable trend.”
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The tweet from Anand Mahindra said,
“What was initially a trickle of water has turned into a Tsunami. The appointment of Indian-origin CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies is now an unstoppable trend. International boardrooms consider them to be almost ‘safe’ leadership bets.”
What was initially a trickle of water has turned into a Tsunami. The appointment of Indian-origin CEOs at the world’s most iconic companies is now an unstoppable trend. International boardrooms consider them to be almost ‘safe’ leadership bets. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽https://t.co/PxbrOMK7Aa
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 2, 2022
Over 4000 people liked and more than 350 people retweeted Anand Mahindra’s tweet to his 9.7 million followers.
On Twitter, a number of supporters and followers also commented on Narasimhan’s appointment
As an Indian origin CEO/COO of a tech company I can see the big business move here. This is why we’re bringing #SolidBlockTech to India. Looking forward to work with you in the future Sir
— Mike | SOLIDBLOCK (@Megacrypto77) September 2, 2022
An Indian citizen becoming a CEO of US based company is unlikely. Point is he is of Indian origin. This shows the change in global mindset where origin and color of skin doesn’t matter, what matters is the competence.
— Chitra (@Carpe_diem2045) September 3, 2022
Laxma working on launch of #FilterKaapee pic.twitter.com/lykRjxa2VN
— Common Indian Man (@manojtjha) September 3, 2022
Laxman Narasimhan, 55, formerly worked for several prestigious businesses. He made the announcement on Thursday, and he plans to start working for Starbucks in October after leaving his position at the Reckitt Benckiser Group.
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According to CNBC, Narasimhan will face a variety of difficulties at Starbucks. With over 200 US locations deciding to unionise under Workers United, Starbucks is facing a union campaign in its home market. So, it will be interesting to see how he tackles all these problems.
