Stephen Brashear/AP
- Laxman Narasimhan officially took over as Starbucks CEO, replacing Howard Schultz.
- Narasimhan has spent his career working at McKinsey, PepsiCo, and Lysol-maker Reckitt.
- He'll now steer Starbucks through heated negotiations with union leaders at 300 of its stores.
Starbucks officially has a new CEO.
The Seattle-based coffee chain on Monday announced that Laxman Narasimhan has officially taken the reins as Starbucks chief executive, nearly two weeks earlier than planned. Narasimhan was named CEO last September, succeeding interim CEO Howard Schultz.