Kevin Johnson Steps Down

Starbucks announced yesterday that their CEO Kevin Johnson will step down after five years, and that the founder and long-time CEO Howard Schultz (see below) would return in an interim CEO role.

That sounded a bit odd, at first. If Johnson wanted to go, why didn't Starbucks simply move more swiftly to find a replacement? We also noted in the office yesterday (where we discuss news developments like these, in real-time) that the company paid Johnson a ton of money last year, part of a long-term incentive scheme.

Johnson had a technology background, and his most significant contribution was to develop the coffee chain's digital ordering systems.

Anyway, Schultz is a known quantity andStarbucks shares rose by 5.2% on Wednesday, so these C-suite changes are probably not too important in the long-term. Coffee is a great product, which almost sells itself. Starbucks is good at it. We like the shares.