Starbucks says Schultz to step down as CEO, become chairman

Kevin Johnson, president and chief operating officer, will take on the CEO role and leadership of Starbucks’ global business and operations.

Starbucks’ president and chief operating officer (COO) Kevin Johnson will replace Schultz as CEO. Starbucks lost about $3 billion of its $85 billion market value in after-hours trading on Thursday when the news broke. I know it’s terrifying to find out that anything is changing at our beloved coffee chain, because coffee, but the news isn’t as bad as you might think.

Schultz “has no plans to run for political office, as he has said many times, and will remain with the company”, she said. Johnson, a close friend of Schultz, has a strong technology and operations background.

In his new role, Schultz will hardly be sitting back in a cushy seat and relaxing at home on a Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking on a conference call, Johnson called Schultz one of the world’s “most iconic leaders and entrepreneurs”.

Johnson, a soft-spoken operator known for his focus on building Starbucks’ mobile payments systems and on executing the company’s global strategy, has been on a listening tour with employees over the a year ago to better appreciate the company’s culture.

The 63-year old has been at the forefront of much of Starbuck’s expansion – last month the company reported record profits. Schultz has put Starbucks in the national spotlight, asking customers not to bring guns into stores and urging conversations on race relations. “I’m not leaving the company”, Schultz told CNN’s Poppy Harlow by phone on Thursday. The company announced in October that it planned to double the number of its stores in China over five years. Johnson, a tech industry veteran, has been on the Starbucks board for seven years but just joined the management team last year. He left for a hiatus in the early 2000s but returned as CEO in 2008. As part of Starbucks’ broader global ambitions, Johnson will now lead the company’s audacious efforts to try and sell espresso in Italy and tea in China.

Schultz wrote a downbeat memo to staff when Trump won the election: “L$3 ike so many of our fellow Americans – both Democrats and Republicans – I am stunned”, he wrote. “Kevin can do that, and I like the fact that Howard is going on to the Roastery, which could be the next big concept”, Cramer said.