How the Starbucks Board Handles the Succession Problem

Boardroom Conversations with Fexingo: CEOs, Strategy, and Corporate Leadership Explained · Jun 28, 2026 · 8m · transcript

Starbucks has had four CEOs in four years—a dizzying churn for a company that once had exactly two leaders in four decades. In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the board's role in the revolving door: why Howard Schultz's stopgap returns made the problem worse, how the board's compensation committee created perverse incentives, and what the search for a permanent CEO in 2026 reveals about the tension between founder legacy and professional management. With concrete details on severance packages, board composition, and the governance lessons for any company facing a founder…