From Cleaners to Coffee, the Executive Taking Over Starbucks

During his time as Reckitt’s chief executive, Mr. Narasimhan reinvigorated the company’s once flagging sales, casting hygiene—and many of the company’s brands—as a cornerstone of health, just in time for the pandemic, when consumers flocked to disinfectants like Lysol. Through the pandemic, he worked to broaden sales of the company’s cleaners, launching a disinfectant laundry detergent and striking branded partnerships with hotel chains and airlines for Lysol.

He sold off the company’s struggling infant formula business in China and kicked off a sale process for the rest of the company’s formula business this summer.

Analysts and investors were surprised by Mr. Narasimhan’s move. Reckitt, in announcing his departure hours before Starbucks named him as its new leader, said he was leaving for “personal and family reasons” and had been offered an opportunity to return to the U.S. Reckitt shares fell more than 5% in London trading Thursday.

Mr. Narasimhan took over as Reckitt was suffering from high turnover among senior executives, volatile sales growth and narrowing margins. Under him, Reckitt’s performance improved, particularly through the pandemic when sales of its blockbuster cleaning spray Lysol boomed. So, too, did Reckitt’s share price.

That has fallen back more recently, as investors questioned the sustainability of Reckitt’s strong performance, boosted by Lysol and a recent jump in sales of baby formula Enfamil amid a U.S. shortage. Reckitt’s share price was up 4% compared with when Mr. Narasimhan took over, based on its closing price Wednesday, a day before investors sold off the stock on the news of his departure. Over the same three-year period, Reckitt rival Unilever PLC’s shares have fallen about 24%. Procter & Gamble Co. shares have risen by 15%.

Early in the pandemic, the 55-year-old was initially separated from his wife and two children. He lived with his mother in his new home in London. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he recounted having to pause a video meeting because his mother asked him to take the trash out.

More recently, both children—a 25-year-old daughter and a son, who is 18—have been living in the U.S.

Before his time at Reckitt, Mr. Narasimhan worked as global chief commercial officer at

PepsiCo. Inc.,

a position created for him after the top job went to

Ramon Laguarta.

Mr. Narasimhan was charged with shaping Pepsi’s long-term growth and reported directly to Mr. Laguarta.

Mr. Narasimhan grew up in Pune, India, where his father established a startup supplying machine parts to the U.S. His mother worked as a teacher. He has recalled his early life being tough, with a sister who died before he was born and a brother who regularly suffered from kidney infections before also dying when Mr. Narasimhan was 6 years old.

After getting a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune in India, Mr. Narasimhan moved to the U.S. in 1991 to study at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a master’s degree in German and international studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. in finance from the university’s Wharton School.

After graduating, he took a job with McKinsey in 1993, spending 19 years at the consulting firm and traveling the world with his wife Vidhya, largely focused on consumer-facing companies. In 2012, he moved to Pepsi, where, among other roles, he served as head of Latin America. He led a deal with Starbucks to distribute the coffee giant’s ready-to-drink products in the region.

He has lived in 25 homes over 29 years in cities, he said in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times, including San Francisco, Cleveland, Toronto, Tokyo, New Delhi, New York and London.

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at [email protected]

During his time as Reckitt’s chief executive, Mr. Narasimhan reinvigorated the company’s once flagging sales, casting hygiene—and many of the company’s brands—as a cornerstone of health, just in time for the pandemic, when consumers flocked to disinfectants like Lysol. Through the pandemic, he worked to broaden sales of the company’s cleaners, launching a disinfectant laundry detergent and striking branded partnerships with hotel chains and airlines for Lysol.

He sold off the company’s struggling infant formula business in China and kicked off a sale process for the rest of the company’s formula business this summer.

Analysts and investors were surprised by Mr. Narasimhan’s move. Reckitt, in announcing his departure hours before Starbucks named him as its new leader, said he was leaving for “personal and family reasons” and had been offered an opportunity to return to the U.S. Reckitt shares fell more than 5% in London trading Thursday.

Mr. Narasimhan took over as Reckitt was suffering from high turnover among senior executives, volatile sales growth and narrowing margins. Under him, Reckitt’s performance improved, particularly through the pandemic when sales of its blockbuster cleaning spray Lysol boomed. So, too, did Reckitt’s share price.

That has fallen back more recently, as investors questioned the sustainability of Reckitt’s strong performance, boosted by Lysol and a recent jump in sales of baby formula Enfamil amid a U.S. shortage. Reckitt’s share price was up 4% compared with when Mr. Narasimhan took over, based on its closing price Wednesday, a day before investors sold off the stock on the news of his departure. Over the same three-year period, Reckitt rival Unilever PLC’s shares have fallen about 24%. Procter & Gamble Co. shares have risen by 15%.

Early in the pandemic, the 55-year-old was initially separated from his wife and two children. He lived with his mother in his new home in London. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he recounted having to pause a video meeting because his mother asked him to take the trash out.

More recently, both children—a 25-year-old daughter and a son, who is 18—have been living in the U.S.

Before his time at Reckitt, Mr. Narasimhan worked as global chief commercial officer at

PepsiCo. Inc.,

a position created for him after the top job went to

Ramon Laguarta.

Mr. Narasimhan was charged with shaping Pepsi’s long-term growth and reported directly to Mr. Laguarta.

Mr. Narasimhan grew up in Pune, India, where his father established a startup supplying machine parts to the U.S. His mother worked as a teacher. He has recalled his early life being tough, with a sister who died before he was born and a brother who regularly suffered from kidney infections before also dying when Mr. Narasimhan was 6 years old.

After getting a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune in India, Mr. Narasimhan moved to the U.S. in 1991 to study at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a master’s degree in German and international studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. in finance from the university’s Wharton School.

After graduating, he took a job with McKinsey in 1993, spending 19 years at the consulting firm and traveling the world with his wife Vidhya, largely focused on consumer-facing companies. In 2012, he moved to Pepsi, where, among other roles, he served as head of Latin America. He led a deal with Starbucks to distribute the coffee giant’s ready-to-drink products in the region.

He has lived in 25 homes over 29 years in cities, he said in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times, including San Francisco, Cleveland, Toronto, Tokyo, New Delhi, New York and London.

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at [email protected]