Outgoing CEO Howard Schultz Rules Out Return To Starbucks

(RTTNews) - Outgoing Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz has said that he would never be returning to the top job at the coffee company as it laid out a new succession plan last week. While speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box", he said, "I'm never coming back again, because we found the right person."

Laxman Narasimhan, who is at present CEO of Lysol owner Reckitt, will join the coffee company in October and take charge in April. Schultz will stay on Starbucks' board after Narasimhan succeeds him and act as an advisor.

Schultz was back in Starbucks as CEO for the third time in April after Kevin Jonson stepped down. Even when industry people speculated that Schultz would carry on, he made it clear that his stay at the top job was only temporary.

When Johnson announced his retirement, Schultz had said that he had no plans to return to Starbucks. He served as CEO from 1986 to 2000, leading the company to its incredible growth and again from 2008 to 2017.

While Narasimhan hasn't joined Starbucks officially yet, Schultz told CNBC that he's gotten to know his successor "very well" over the last few months. Before heading Reckitt, Narasimhan has worked at PepsiCo and consulting firm McKinsey.

Narasimhan's appointment got a muted response from Wall Street. Schultz's earlier departure announcement in late 2016 had lead to a double decline in the stock price.