Earlier quoted context omitted.
Starbucks wanted/needed a new CEO because the previous one was mismanaging the company, and Niccols is the best Restaurant CEO in the industry, having lead Chipotle's turnaround. Niccols was in a position to make his own demands, and Starbucks had no choice but to comply. Niccols even became chairman of the Starbucks board (it's very rare for a CEO to also be the chairman of the board at this size of a company). Alre…
I guess their stock price is doing well, but have you been to a Chipotle lately? The stores here are understaffed and food quality seems to have gone down from what I remember from a decade ago when I went there frequently.
Yep. Went from $200 to a height of $3000 under Niccols before they initiated a stock split.
That's the job of a CEO at this size of an organization.
Starbucks and most other restaurant companies are majority owned by larger funds, and Elliot Investment Management is one of the major shareholders in SBUX now.
I agree with you about the degradation of Chipotle's burritos, but for companies like this, the share is the product that matters, not the burrito or coffee.
Most people go to fast food for convenience, not the experience, and the margins are so low that it's difficult to be cash-flow positive, making investor relations extremely critical.