Starbucks Execs Can Earn Millions in Performance Stock Grants

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has been on a mission to turn around the coffeehouse’s lagging sales through a variety of measures, from dress codes to menu changes. Now, the company is offering executives massive stock grants if they can help make it happen.

The stock grants have a $6 million target value, Bloomberg reports, and are based on performance. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Starbucks said the restricted stock units are eligible to vest after the company’s 2027 fiscal year, or in late September 2027.

Related: Starbucks Is Hiring a ‘Global Content Creator’ to Travel, Drink Coffee, and Get Paid Six Figures

Niccol’s wants his “Back to Starbucks” plan enacted “as quickly as possible,” the filing says.

The company is also hiring 3,000 more baristas as part of Niccol’s plan to improve sales after five consecutive quarters of declines. Starbucks reported in May that same-store sales dropped 1% in the first quarter of 2025, falling short of Wall Street expectations.

The awards “include a goal of meaningfully reducing operating expenses to support continued investment in the in-store experience,” the filing says, per Bloomberg.

Related: Starbucks Is Hiring In-Store Human Workers After Replacing People With Machines — and Finding It Didn’t Work