New York (AFP) - Starbucks announced Wednesday that longtime chief Howard Schultz will return to lead the global coffee shop chain on an interim basis while the company searches for a new leader amid a growing unionization drive.
Kevin Johnson, who has led the chain since 2017, plans to retire next month, the company said, adding it expects to name a new CEO by the fall.
Johnson told the board a year ago that he was considering retiring in the wake of the upheaval of the pandemic, calling the decision "a natural bookend to my 13 years with the company," according to a Starbucks press release.
Schultz, who first joined the company in 1982, grew Starbucks from a small Seattle coffee chain into a global juggernaut in two earlier stints as CEO.He also flirted with running for the US presidency in 2020, but ultimately opted against seeking office.
"When you love something, you have a deep sense of responsibility to help when called," Schultz said."Although I did not plan to return to Starbucks, I know the company must transform once again to meet a new and exciting future where all of our stakeholders mutually flourish."
The shakeup comes as Starbucks faces a wave of unionization campaigns that has spread to more than 100 US stores after workers at two upstate New York cafes voted to form a union in December.
Shares of Starbucks jumped 5.8 percent to $87.92 in pre-market trading.
