Still, even if Schultz keeps showing up at the office every day, abdicating the CEO role frees him from some of the pressure of answering to shareholders’ concerns—especially after Starbucks stock fell 7.5% last year. And while Schultz probably has enough pull with the Starbucks board to keep his full pay, and then some, the company would likely be better off if he didn’t, says compensation consultant Alan Johnson of Johnson Associates.
“I think you’d want his pay to be cut in half to send a clear message that the other guy is the new guy,” Johnson says. “If taking a few million less helps the transition to the new CEO, that’s the smartest thing he could do.”
Fortune / February 7, 2017