2024-10-15

Elliott asks for December special meeting at Southwest, cuts board slate

Travelers check in at a Southwest counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images Elliott Investment Management has requested a special meeting at Southwest Airlines, formalizing the launch of a long-signaled proxy fight for control of the carrier’s board. The activist is seeking a…

Read More

2024-09-11

New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol outlines plans for business

New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol will focus on improving the chain’s U.S. business in his early days on the job before he moves to fix its issues abroad, according to an open letter published on Tuesday. “… In some places — especially in the U.S. — we aren’t always delivering,” Niccol wrote in the open letter addressed to customers,…

Read More

2024-08-19

Incoming Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol may target mobile app

Mobile order and Uber Eats and Doordash delivery pick up area at Starbucks coffee shop, Queens, New York.  Lindsey Nicholson | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images It’s become a familiar sight at Starbucks cafes: a counter crowded with mobile orders, frustrated customers waiting for the drinks they ordered and overwhelmed baristas trying to keep up with…

Read More

2024-08-16

Starbucks new CEO Brian Niccol compensation Chipotle

Starbucks offered incoming CEO and Chair Brian Niccol a pay bump and hefty one-time awards to lure him from his prior role as chief executive at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Niccol officially takes the reins at the embattled coffee chain on Sept. 9. As CEO, he’ll be tasked with turning around the company’s slumping sales, improving customers’ experience inside stores…

Read More

2024-08-14

Wall Street cheers Brian Niccol appointment

Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle Anjali Sundaram | CNBC Wall Street believes Brian Niccol is the right choice to turn around Starbucks — and move the chain past the decadeslong Howard Schultz era. Starbucks tapped Niccol as its latest chief executive and chair on Tuesday. Niccol replaces Laxman Narasimhan, who took over the top job in March 2023 after…

Read More

2024-08-14

Starbucks replaces CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol

Starbucks announced Tuesday it’s replacing CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol, sending its stock soaring 24.5%, its best day ever. Chipotle’s stock fell over 10% on the news that Niccol would leave after a successful tenure at the burrito chain. Narasimhan’s departure is effective immediately. Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri will step in as interim chief executive until…

Read More

2024-08-12

Restaurant CEOs focus on value as they aim to bring back customers

A sign advertises meal deals at a McDonald’s restaurant in Burbank, California, on July 22, 2024. Mario Tama | Getty Images Restaurant CEOs have become obsessed with the word “value” in explaining to investors why their sales lagged this quarter while sharing plans to revive traffic in the coming months. On McDonald’s quarterly conference call last month, executives said…

Read More