Brian Niccol’s arrangement underscores the gulf in bargaining power between high-ranking executives and the average employee in terms of flexibility.
Newly appointed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol won’t be required to relocate to the company’s headquarters in Seattle when he joins the coffee giant next month.
Instead, Starbucks says Niccol can live in his home in Newport Beach, California and commute to Starbucks’ head office 1,000 miles away on a corporate jet, according to the new CEO’s offer letter, which was made public in an SEC filing last week.
In his new role, Niccol, 50, will be paid a base salary of $1.6 million annually and has the opportunity to earn an annual cash bonus that could range from $3.6 million to $7.2 million depending on his performance. He will also be eligible for annual equity awards worth up to $23 million.
I'm surprised by this because what rich guy wouldn't want to shift his income from a state with one of the highest if not the highest tax rate at his level of income to a state with no income tax?
It doesn't matter that the income will be sourced in Washington. He lives in California, and by that, the franchise tax board is hyper aggressive in getting their cut.
Note that the equity awards mentioned are taxable as well.
Hmm i live 1000 miles from work, which do i do: literally use technology that works at the speed of light(internet) or burn a shitton of fuel and propel myself at high speeds towards the building where i work. I think the answer is obvious.
“It’s becoming increasingly common because we’re still in a competitive labor market,” he explains. “Executives aren’t accepting job offers if flexibility isn’t on the table.”
CEOs of major corporations aren't a "labor market". They're a bunch of narcissists looking for their next hit. They won't accept working conditions that don't favor them because they a) don't need to work and b) their motivation is being a business king and the more ridiculous the package is, the better it feels. It's just a MBA delusion that he has a special brain worth tens of millions of dollars more than promoting some underling. That the market thought 10% of Chipotle's entire value was this guy's special brain is just insanity.
Brian Niccol "Guess what plebs? I commute over 1,000 miles one way to get the office. If I can do it, so can you. Get your asses into the office, plebs."
When he is not traveling for work, however, Niccol will still be expected to work from the Seattle office at least three days a week in alignment with Starbucks’ hybrid work policies, a company spokesperson tells CNBC Make It.
To be fair, the offer letter mentions he is working from a remote office (and is able to hire an assistant of his choosing). I'm hoping this whole supercommute nonsense isn't daily and instead like.. monthly for some meeting or something.
Who am I kidding though, a $10M signing bonus? He gets up to $250K per year of personal use out of the jet? They'll even reimburse him $50K of legal and advisory fees he incurs having the offer reviewed by his own lawyers. That's where I stopped reading.