New Starbucks CEO Will Commute 1,000 Miles by Private Jet

New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol won’t have to worry about traffic on the PCH, but he will have to worry about the weather patterns across the country. That’s because Niccol was reportedly given the all-clear to commute via corporate jet from his home in Newport Beach, California, to the Starbucks head office in Seattle. 

The “commute” will be approximately 1,000 miles, and while it may seem silly to us from afar, it will surely be a whole lot less painful than sitting bumper-to-bumper for an hour to get home. It also helps that he inked a contract that will see him receive $1.6 million annually with bonuses and equity awards that could see him approach $23 million. I’d fly on Spirit Airlines five days a week if I were making that amount of coin. Wouldn’t you? 

A direct flight for Niccol will see him in the air for little less than three hours. According to CNBC, he will be expected to be in Seattle three times a week while also receiving a remote office and an assistant in his hometown. This is in line with the company’s work-from-home policy enacted in early 2023, which requires employees to show face three days per week. 

News of Niccol’s hiring came earlier this month. Rachel Ruggeri, the company’s CFO, has been serving as the interim CEO in place of Laxman Narasimhan, who left after a bumpy year in the role. 

The jet-setting CEO comes from Chipotle, where he held the same title as he will with Starbucks. He has been in that role since 2018. The burrito chain’s headquarters are in Newport Beach, which is why Niccol resides in the southern California city. 

It sounds like Niccol will have a lot of red-eye flights in the future. Good thing he works for one of the largest coffee companies in the world.