Starbucks Taps Reckitt CEO as Chief After Schultz’s Long Handoff

Starbucks Corp. tapped Laxman Narasimhan, chief executive officer of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, as its next CEO, choosing a consumer-industry veteran to build on the new path charted by Howard Schultz.

Narasimhan, 55, will join the coffee giant Oct. 1 while longtime leader Schultz, 69, stays at the helm. The new chief will take over fully April 1 after an introductory period in which he’ll learn about the company. At that point, Schultz will cede the top executive role but remain indefinitely as an adviser.

Before his stint at Reckitt, Narasimhan was an executive at global beverage ...