Starbucks names Kevin Johnson President and COO

Starbucks has appointed Kevin Johnson as president and chief operating officer effective 1 March.

Johnson, who has been a Starbucks board member since 2009, will lead the company’s global operating businesses across the Americas, EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa), and China/Asia Pacific, as well as Starbucks supply chain, information technology, and mobile and digital platforms.

“I am looking forward to working with him and our strongest management team in the company’s 44-year history,” Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and CEO.

Johnson served as chief executive officer of Juniper Networks Inc., from September 2008 through December 2013. Prior to that, he served as the president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft Corporation and was a member of Microsoft’s senior leadership team and held a number of senior executive positions over the course of his 16 years at Microsoft.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 1992, he worked for International Business Machine Corp.’s systems integration and consulting business. In 2008, Johnson was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) where he served through the end of 2013.

“Over the past six years I have gotten to know the company well and I look forward to extending my 33 years of operating experience to help propel Starbucks to the next decade of growth and innovation. I am honored and humbled to join Starbucks, a company that I love, during this important time,” Johnson said.