Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol's 4-month earnings surpass Apple, Google chiefs
What's the story
Brian Niccol, the new CEO of Starbucks, has been awarded a compensation package of around $96 million for his first four months of work in 2024.
The massive pay puts him ahead of tech giants Apple and Google's CEOs Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, who earned about $75 million each.
Around 94% of Niccol's pay came from stock awards, according to a recent filing.
Compensation breakdown
Stock awards and sign-on bonus
The stock awards are mostly performance-based and will vest over a period of three years.
Apart from these awards, Niccol also received a $5 million sign-on bonus after completing his first month at the company.
He joined the firm in early September last year, after a leadership change due to declining sales.
Additional perks
Starbucks covers Niccol's housing and travel expenses
Starbucks didn't ask Niccol to move to Seattle, where its headquarters are. The company agreed to pay for his temporary housing in the area and give him access to the company jet.
According to the filing, Starbucks spent over $143,000 on housing expenses for Niccol. This includes tax-related payments which make up for about half of the total sum.
Travel expenditure
Travel costs and personal use of company aircraft
The filing also revealed that Niccol racked up about $72,000 in travel expenses for flights between his home in Southern California and Seattle. Another $19,000 was spent on other personal use of the company plane. Starbucks covered these expenses as part of his compensation package.
CEO standing
Niccol is among top 20 highest-paid CEOs
Bloomberg had first estimated Niccol's annual pay package to be worth some $113 million when he was hired.
A large chunk of this was equity-based, meant to replace awards from his previous employer that he had to forgo.
As per the Bloomberg Pay Index, Niccol is among the top 20 highest-paid CEOs in the world.