Jim Donald, who was forced out this month as CEO of Starbucks Corp., will receive a $1.25 million severance payment. At an average of $4 per cup, that equates to 312,500 cups of Joe. And he might need it. Donald will not be opening up his own Coffee shop or going to work for any coffee purveyors anytime soon…as he has agreed not to compete against his former employer for 18 months, according to a securities filing released Monday. Read.
On Friday Whole Foods proclaimed support for its founder and CEO John Mackey after completing an internal investigation into his anonymous postings on Internet message boards in which he built up Whole Foods and tore down the competition.
The company has turned over its findings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which has also launched an inquiry. Many supsected that Mackey would be out as CEO following the blunder…however this latest announcement seems to say otherwise. Mackey has a long standing history of challenging authority and many thought that this latest fiasco would surely cause him to hand over the reins as CEO.
Starwood Hotels has spent the last 5-months searching for a new CEO. The search has finally ended. The company has announced that it has hired Frits van Paasschen, formerly CEO of Coors Brewing Co.
Van Paasschen has no hospitality experience. His experience with global consumer brands which includes executive stints at Nike and Disney are what made him an attractive candidate.
He takes over an impressive empire. Starwood’s portfolio includes Le Meridien, Sheraton, Westin and W Hotels. In a press release Starwood Chairman Bruce Duncan said “Frits is an extremely talented and proven leader with demonstrated success in driving both top and bottom-line growth on a global scale across a variety of leading consumer lifestyle companies.”
From throwing parties at Howard University when he was just a pup, to interning at a record studio, to launching Bad Boy Records, to launching the hugely successful Sean Jean clothing line, …it seems like everything Sean P. Diddy Combs touches turns to gold.
Now the CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment is being credited with a different type of success. This time he’s being given credit for playing a major role in the successful turnaround of the once floundering Burger King fast food empire.
A multi-year deal between Combs and Burger King was announced in October of 2006 in which Diddy would be featured in a fresh ad campaign promoting Burger King’s new late night hours.
The result? Burger King’s sales rose more than 11% over the past year due to strong late night sales. And now the company has made an official statement crediting Diddy for being a major reason for the strong sales performance.
Diddy…You’re A Bad Boy.
Starbucks Chief Executive Jim Donald recently sat down with SeattlePI.com to talk about recent developments for the world’s biggest coffee chain.
Below are a few excerpts:
Q: The company expects to open another 2,600 stores in the 2008 fiscal year. Where will most of that growth occur?
A: All over. … What we’re doing in the U.S. and internationally is looking at filling in markets. I can’t really get specific, but we are filling in markets throughout these areas that are continuing to tell us we need more Starbucks stores. … China will be a big emphasis, as well as filling in the U.K., Japan and Canada.
Q: Starbucks raised prices by an average of 9 cents Tuesday, even though Chairman Howard Schultz said May 3 that there were no plans to raise prices. Why was there a price boost, and what has been the response from consumers?
A: When Howard said that, we had no clue we would be looking at 100 percent increase in dairy (cost). …(Tuesday) there was a price increase of about 3 percent. It has only been one day, but we are not hearing from our customers. We are explaining to our customers about the cost of dairy and other commodities and the fuel arena is creating this. They are seeing it in restaurants and grocery stores. Read.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods apologized to shareholders on Tuesday for posting comments about his company under a false name on Yahoo Internet message boards. In the postings, Mackey talked up his company while predicting a bleak future for Wild Oats Markets Inc. , the rival his firm is trying to acquire.
Mackey’s apology comes following an announcement that the SEC has launched an investigation into the incidents which took place over an 8 year span.
“I sincerely apologize to all Whole Foods Market stakeholders for my error in judgment in anonymously participating on online financial message boards,” Mackey said in a statement on Tuesday. “I am very sorry and I ask our stakeholders to please forgive me.”
Last week, Mackey had defended the postings, saying he “posted on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it. Many people post on bulletin boards using pseudonyms.”
Corporate governance expert Nell Minow of the Corporate Library agrees with our view here at CEO Smack…that Mackey won’t remain CEO for long.
“The fact that somebody has twisted his arm into saying he’s sorry just isn’t enough,” Minow said.
We agree with Ms. Minow. Mackey’s cavalier approach to business and his “I’m holier than thou” attitude towards the Federal Trade Commission are probably going to come back to haunt him on this one. We doubt the Whole Foods Board of Directors lets this one slide. Stay tuned………………………………………………………………….
