Starbucks is giving its new CEO far more leeway in the skies. The coffee chain has removed a $250,000 annual limit on Brian Niccol's personal use of the company jet, citing security concerns tied to his high-profile role and what it calls "credible threat actors." Niccol, who lives in Newport Beach, California, regularly flies nearly 1,000 miles to Starbucks' Seattle headquarters and had previously been required to reimburse the company for personal flights above that cap, reports the BBC.
An independent security assessment, commissioned by Starbucks, concluded that Niccol should use private aviation for all air travel—business, commuting, and personal—due to heightened media attention and the broader threat environment. The company's compensation committee voted in September to swap the cap for a quarterly review of his flights, a move later approved by the board. The same review also recommended a dedicated car and driver in Seattle. In a recent filing, Starbucks said Niccol's personal use of the jet in 2025 tallied up to $997,000, while his security costs totaled $1.1 million, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The AP reports global same-store sales—a reference to locations open a year or more—were up 4% for the October-December period, outpacing the 2.3% that Wall Street expected. Same-store sales in the US were also up 4%, marking the best US performance for the company in two years.
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