Starbucks chief now gets company jet for personal trips

Starbucks chief now gets company jet for personal trips

This week, Starbucks Coffee announced that it will let its CEO, Brian Niccol, have free entry to the company jet for personal trips as a security precaution. The transfer may power other corporations to do the same for their executives.

“The assassination of the UnitedHealthcare executive has provided a unique opportunity to give boards air cover to capitulate to a CEO’s desire to travel on a private jet,” a board member of a publicly traded company who’s getting pushed to comply with Starbucks’ lead, told me.

The change got here after the company performed a “security review of risks” and “the Starbucks Board of Directors made the decision to enhance security measures for Brian,” a spokesperson for the company said. “This included a decision by the Board to require Brian to use private aircraft for all travel. With that requirement, the Board also determined that a quarterly review process provides more appropriate oversight.”

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol can now use the company jet for even personal journey after the board decided it was vital for his safety. REUTERS

According to an SEC submitting that went public earlier this week, the review recognized “credible threat actors” concentrating on Niccol.

Starbucks eliminated a earlier $250,000 annual cap on personal jet use in September 2025. But sources are skeptical it was just about addressing a safety concern.

“It wasn’t like he was flying in coach and they were worried he was in danger,” one government at a publicly traded company told me. “He was flying private for personal travel before — he clearly likes flying private … he just isn’t reimbursing the company anymore.”

Starbucks is constantly ranked one in all the top 150 corporations by market capitalization in the US, with a more than $100 billion valuation. Niccol joined the company in Sept. 2024 and has labored to jolt slumping sales. For the quarter ending Dec. 28, US sales had been up 4%.

Brian Niccol was appointed CEO in Sept. 2024 and has labored to fight slumping sales. AP

The new coverage is a precedent for smaller corporations to make comparable strikes — and it may in the end backfire.

“Private jet use quickly becomes part of the narrative of a bloated cost structure when investors are upset with how a company is performing,” the board member careworn to me. “The first thing they look at is perks because it’s easy to attack and a good soundbite that a company is spending too much money on personal travel.”

NYNext has reached out to Niccol for remark.

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