Mellody Hobson, who stepped aside as Starbucks chairman to hand the title to new CEO Brian Niccol, is retiring from the board, the company announced on Thursday.
In so doing, Hobson ends an active, 20-year career overseeing the coffee shop giant’s board of directors. She has been vice chair, chair and lead independent director at the Seattle-based company.
“With Brian Niccol firmly at the helm (after a dogged pursuit!), I am confident Starbucks is in excellent hands,” Hobson said in a letter earlier this week announcing her decision. The company posted the letter on its website.
“I believe it is important for Brian to have a lead director who can sit alongside him for years to come—my 20 years is already a long time.”
Hobson, the co-CEO of Ariel Investments and former chair of DreamWorks Animation, was recruited to the board in 2005.
Last year, it was Hobson who recruited Niccol away from Chipotle, after Starbucks decided that it needed to move on from Laxman Narasimhan, who had only ascended to the CEO job in 2023.
At the same time, however, she was chair during a tumultuous, two-and-a-half-year period in which the company employed four CEOs and, toward the end, watched sales falter in its two biggest markets, the U.S. and China—the latter of which was beset by massive competition from a rapidly growing group of coffee competitors.
Former CEO Howard Schultz came in and served as interim chief executive before the company hired Narasimhan away from Reckitt. He served as a CEO in training for six months before taking over and didn’t last 18 months on the job as these problems emerged.
Yet she also helped guide the chain through the pandemic and its recovery. “She has been a respected leader, a mentor to many and a relentless advocate for our company, our coffee and our brand,” Niccol said in a letter to the system on Thursday.
“Mellody embodies the best of Starbucks and lives our mission and values, which isn’t surprising given her role in helping build and shape the company and our culture,” he added.
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