$96 million payday for Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol; beats packages of Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai

Starbucks chief executive Brian Niccol has received one of the largest compensation packages in corporate America, amounting to around $96 million for just four months of work last year.

To compare, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai received compensation packages of around $75 million each.

Around 94% of Niccol’s pay came from stock awards, as outlined in a filing, with most linked to performance and some time-based, vesting over three years. Additionally, the CEO, who joined in September, received a $5 million sign-on bonus after his first month with the company.


Starbucks replaced its previous CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, last year following a series of sales declines and brought in Niccol from Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to lead the turnaround. The company did not require him to relocate to Seattle and covered temporary housing costs and use of the company jet.

As per the filing, Starbucks covered over $143,000 in housing expenses for Niccol, with about half of that being tax-related payments. He also spent around $72,000 on flights between his home in Southern California and Seattle, along with approximately $19,000 for personal use of the company jet.

At the time of his hiring, Bloomberg estimated Niccol’s annual pay package to be worth around $113 million, with a significant portion tied to equity to replace awards he had to give up from his previous employer.

Before joining Starbucks, Niccol led Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. as CEO from 2018 to 2024 and chairman from 2020 to 2024. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Taco Bell and held several leadership roles at Pizza Hut.