He may be a big shot in the field of business, but new Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan is described as a fun person by his close ones. While at work he is not afraid of taking quick decisions, in his personal life Narasimhan uses that wit to crack jokes. He is a fan of music and listens to everything — be it rock or Carnatic music — and likes to have a single espresso shot a day, something his new company specialises at.
Narasimhan was born and brought up at Pune, and studied at Loyola’s High School in Pashan and St Vincent’s High School before getting into College of Engineering Pune (CoEP). As per a report by Times of India quoting the friends of the Starbucks CEO, he has come a long way from playing cricket in the fields to having a super successful career.
Narasimhan’s school friend and classmate Nitin Joshi told ToI, “At heart, he is still the humble, warm and approachable guy we all grew up with.” Joshi said that they have a WhatsApp group of the 1982 batch of Loyola’s School, where Narasimhan regularly posts updates of his life and shares photos.
“He is a big shot in the business world, but he is just a regular guy who does regular things with us. He goes to music concerts a lot and posts about them. A few days ago, he posted a photo with his mother and wife. He is always active in the group. A few days ago, he messaged that he won’t be posting anything for a while. This morning, we woke up to this amazing news and the group has been flooded with congratulatory messages,” Joshi, who is a businessman, was quoted as saying.
But times have not always been good for the now-55-year-old, and that has built his resilience. Laxman lost his elder sister before he was born, and a few years later his elder brother passed away too. “He is very hard working and has travelled around the world for work,” Joshi added.
Narasimhan has a hunger to learn more, be it music, sports or languages. While he played cricket with friends, St. Vincent’s High School, Laxman also took football lessons and played as a goalkeeper at the school’s team. Apart from this, he has earned an MA in German, and learned Spanish to communicate with his Latin American colleagues when he worked at Reckitt to connect with them.
Laxman Narasimhan will take charge US-based Starbucks on October 1, 2022, joining a growing cohort of Indian-origin business leaders at the helm of global corporations.
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