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Starbucks Names Laxman Narasimhan as Its New C.E.O.



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Starbucks has hired Laxman Narasimhan as its next chief executive, the company announced on Thursday, putting him in charge of the world’s largest coffee chain as it grapples with a growing unionization movement, rising inflation and losses in China.Mr. Narasimhan will take over in April from Howard Schultz, Starbucks’s longtime leader, who took back the reins of the company last April after Kevin Johnson stepped down as chief executive.“We were looking for somebody that was a true servant leader that had a deep sense of humility,” Mr. Schultz said in an interview. “Laxman first and foremost is a true servant leader.”Mr. Narasimhan, 55, will be thrust into one of the world’s most prominent corporate leadership roles, overseeing roughly 35,000 stores and 383,000 employees globally. A former senior PepsiCo executive, he has most recently led Reckitt Benckiser, the British conglomerate that makes Lysol disinfectant and Durex condoms.Born in Pune, India, Mr. Narasimhan moved to the United States in 1991 to attend the University …

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