- Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, made nearly $100 million in his first four months running the company.
- His total compensation between taking the gig in September and the end of 2024 was $95,801,676.
- The pay was mostly in stock awards but also included a $5 million bonus after one month on the job.
Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, made almost $100 million in his first four months at the company, a new filing shows.
Niccol’s executive compensation package for 2024, valued at $95,801,676, encompasses the total pay he earned between taking the gig on September 9 and the end of the year.
While the compensation was mostly in stock awards — his base salary is $61,538, before his award of $90,291,772 worth of stocks — his pay package also included a $5 million sign-on bonus after completing his first month on the job.
The package also included $418,071 in additional compensation, which the filing indicates includes $143,567 of temporary housing expenses — as Niccol was not required to relocate from his home in Southern California to the company’s headquarters in Seattle, and instead supercommutes using Starbucks’ company jet.
Niccols’ commute costs the company an additional $72,398 of expenses “related to his use of Starbucks aircraft for travel between his city of primary residence and Starbucks headquarters” and $19,367 “related to his other personal use of Company aircraft,” the filing notes.
“Mr. Niccol’s aircraft expenses represent the aggregate incremental cost incurred by the Company to operate the aircraft for such use, including fuel costs, flight crew travel expenses, in-flight catering, landing fees, communication expenses, and other trip-related variable costs, and do not include fixed costs that would be incurred regardless of whether there was any non-business use of the aircraft, such as aircraft purchase costs, pilot and crew salaries, insurance costs, and maintenance,” the filing reads. “For trips that involve mixed non-business and business usage, we include the incremental cost of any non-business usage (i.e., the excess of the cost of the actual trip over the cost of a hypothetical trip without the non-business usage).”
Starbucks also footed the bill for $6,303 in COBRA insurance reimbursements, $48,671 in reimbursements in legal fees related to negotiations over the terms of his employment, and $127,765 worth of physical protection security expenses.
“Personal driver services were provided to Mr. Niccol at no incremental cost and is fulfilled by Starbucks salaried partners as part of his executive protection support,” the filing reads.
