New Starbucks CEO commuting by private jet stirs up public outcry

Brian Niccol, Starbucks’ new top executive, will be provided a jet by the American coffeehouse chain group to fly from his home in California to its headquarters in Seattle. That’s about 1,600 km. Niccol takes office on Monday, September 9th, but so is already under fire, while others accuse the firm of hypocrisy, with some calling for a boycott of the chain.

Niccol, a 50-year-old former top executive of restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, lives in Newport Beach, a community south of Los Angeles. Seattle, where Starbucks’ headquarters is located, is a two-hour 40-minute flight away.

A letter published on the US regulator’s website states that Niccol will not be required to move to Seattle and may thus commute to work by company jet. Like many other companies, Starbucks requires its administrative clerks to work in Seattle at least three days a week. The new CEO is no exception.

Banning straws

Niccol has drawn a lot of criticism for this. Starbucks, which has 38,000 stores worldwide, is also being targeted on social media because the coffee bar chain likes to show off its efforts to protect the environment, such as banning straws, launching a returnable cup program, or using cold cups made with up to 20% less plastic.

After disappointing results, the coffee chain announced the immediate departure of top executive Laxman Narasimhan a few weeks ago. The news that Niccol would become the new CEO caused a 25% increase in Starbucks’ share price – a gain of 20 million dollars in market value.

For his new job, Niccol will receive 1.6 million dollars annually, with the potential for an estimated bonus of up to 8.8 million dollars and Starbucks shares of up to 23 million dollars a year from 2025.

He will also get a cash signing bonus of 10 million dollars and 75 million dollars in equity to make up for what is being forfeited by his abrupt departure as chief executive at Chipotle.

50 times more polluting than trains

Private jets are, on average, ten times more polluting than commercial aircraft (per passenger) and 50 times more polluting than trains, which is one reason environmental activists worldwide have stepped up their actions against them. A single private jet emits two tons of CO2 in one hour. The average annual emission for a person in advanced economies is 8.2 tons of O2.

Greenpeace, among others, is among the growing number of organizations lobbying to ban private jet use once and for all. They argue that, despite 80% of the world’s population having never taken a flight, the super-rich 1% are responsible for half of the world’s aviation emissions.