Starbucks’ new boss gets a bumper £88m salary – and can work from the beach!

Starbucks’ new boss, the “Messi of the restaurant industry”, is to receive a reported £88m payout in one of the biggest hires on record in the US.

Not only that: Brian Niccol can work from a remote office in sunny Newport Beach, California, instead of the coffee chain’s headquarters in Seattle.

Plus, he can use the Starbucks jet to visit headquarters whenever necessary. If Niccol hits his targets, his full package will make him one of the highest-paid bosses in America.

“He’s considered almost the (soccer player Lionel) Messi of the restaurant industry,” said Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo.

A restructuring at Starbucks has sent its shares up 24 percent, while burrito chain Chipotle, which Niccol is leaving after a successful turnaround, has lost 7 percent.

Starbucks has struggled, with falling sales and a dispute over alleged ties to Israel.

Niccol will be the fourth boss in less than three years after Laxman Narasimhan, former boss of British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser who joined in March 2023, left with immediate effect.

Niccol’s package includes a £7.8m welcome bonus, £58m in additional share options, an annual salary of £1.25m plus the opportunity to earn up to £18m in share-based bonuses each year.

He could also receive a cash bonus worth almost £2.8m. Last year he received £17.5m at Chipotle.