Laxman Narasimhan's ouster at Starbucks adds fuel to record-firing pace

By Jeff Green

The abrupt departure of Laxman Narasimhan at the helm of Starbucks Corp. is adding to a record number of CEO ousters at US companies.
 

Of the 191 chief executive officers who have left companies in the Russell 3000 Index this year, 74 were considered to be fired or forced out, according to data compiled by exechange.com, a research provider that analyses public sources to track executive changes. That’s the most at this time of year since the firm began tracking CEO departures in 2017.

While Starbucks didn’t reveal the details around Narasimhan’s departure, exechange.com counted him in its tally. A spokesperson for the coffee chain didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

“CEOs who do not perform well in the rapidly changing market environment are now apparently being replaced very rigorously,” said Daniel Schauber, founder of exechange.com, in an interview Tuesday.

Starbucks has posted two straight quarters of comparable sales declines, and its shares had fallen 20 per cent this year before the CEO change. The board was reportedly facing pressure from activist investors Elliott Investment Management and Starboard Value, and former CEO Howard Schultz has been both publicly and privately griping about the business.

Board Chair Mellody Hobson said in a CNBC interview Tuesday that Narasimhan’s departure wasn’t necessarily due to outside forces. 

Exechange.com scores CEO departures on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being totally voluntary and 10 being clearly fired. The average CEO departure score in 2024 is a 6.2, the highest since the group started tracking the data. Narasimhan’s exit was rated a 9.