Laxman Narasimhan takes over as Starbucks CEO

Starbucks, the US coffee giant, declared on Monday (March 21) that Laxman Narasimhan has formally succeeded Howard Schultz as the company's CEO and will lead Thursday's annual shareholders' meeting.

The announcement came sooner than expected.

The coffee giant had previously stated Narasimhan was expected to assume duties fully in April after being appointed the incoming CEO in September of last year.

Narasimhan praised Schultz for laying a solid foundation for Starbucks, adding, "I am honored to have the opportunity to build on this deep heritage."

Before his appointment, Narasimhan was chief executive of Reckitt, which owns Lysol, Mucinex and other brands of household goods and baby formula products.