Kevin R. Johnson (born October 9, 1960) is an American businessman and software engineer who was the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2017 to 2022. Succeeding Howard Schultz as CEO, Johnson previously was the company's president and chief operating officer from 2015 to 2017. On March 16, 2022, Johnson announced that he was stepping down as CEO, Schultz would take over as CEO in the interim. Johnson joined the board of directors of Goldman Sachs in late 2022. Born in Gig Harbor, Washington, Johnson was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He graduated from New Mexico State University in 1981 before embarking on a career in software development. Johnson first worked as a systems engineer at IBM during the late-1980s, before moving to Microsoft in 1992 and was appointed to lead its worldwide sales, marketing and services in 2003. After one of his earliest clients, Starbucks, needed wireless internet in their stores, Johnson first met Schultz. Working closely with Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer and founder Bill Gates, Johnson was a member of the senior leadership team. Johnson left Microsoft during the 2008 financial crisis and was chief executive of Juniper Networks from September 2008 to January 2014. Johnson first joined Starbucks in September 2009 as a board member after which Schultz asked him to take a greater role at the firm. He was subsequently appointed chief operating officer for two years before becoming chief executive. Under his tenure, Starbucks has streamlined its core business, managed corporate programs to address racial inequality in the U.S., and revamped its product suite horizontally, particularly in espresso machine manufacturing and technological innovation. Outside of his professional career, Johnson served under U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a national cybersecurity task force.
Early life and education Born on October 9, 1960, in Gig Harbor, Washington, Johnson later moved to and was raised in Los Alamos, New Mexico, with his siblings. His mother, Carol, was a pediatric nurse at the Children's Clinic of Los Alamos, while his father Jim worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a theoretical physicist. Johnson graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1978. He went on to graduate from New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces in 1981, with a B.A. in business administration. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters from NMSU in 2017.
Career
IBM Johnson began his career as a software engineer and became a systems engineer at IBM, in 1986, working in the company's systems integration and consulting business unit. At IBM he also worked as a software developer in the petroleum and financial services industries.
Microsoft
Johnson joined Microsoft in 1992, working in global technical support and, later, sales and marketing. In 2001, he led the rollout of Microsoft wireless internet in Starbucks stores, which is when he met and began working with Starbucks founder Howard Schultz. In 2003, Johnson was appointed group vice president of Microsoft's worldwide sales, marketing and services group. As head of worldwide sales, the company's top sales post, he "re-engineered field sales and realigned subsidiary operations" in around 80 countries. On September 30, 2005, he was appointed co-president of Microsoft's newly created Platforms division, assuming sole responsibility after co-president Jim Allchin retired in 2006, giving Johnson responsibility over Windows Live, Windows operating systems, online advertising, search functions, servers, tools, and MSN online. Johnson oversaw $20 billion out of Microsoft's $56 billion in revenue, spearheading its "revamped online search and advertising strategy," regarded as crucial to competing with Google's online search tools. In 2006, Fortune named Johnson fourth on a list of "Rising Stars" in the technology industry. On the Senior Leadership Team, he became one of six executives along with Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates who oversaw strategy for Microsoft. Overseeing the release of Windows Vista in 2006 and 2007, in 2007 Johnson led Microsoft's acquisition of the online advertising company aQuantive for $6 billion. In 2008, he was a key figure in negotiations between Yahoo and Microsoft, with Microsoft ultimately withdrawing an acquisition offer. He resigned from Microsoft in July 2008. In a statement announcing his departure from Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft, praised Johnson's contribution to the company.
Juniper In September 2008, Johnson became CEO of Juniper Networks, in Sunnyvale, California. In July 2013, Juniper Networks announced that Johnson would step down as CEO and planned to retire. He continued as CEO while a search for a new CEO was conducted. In January 2014, he was succeeded as Juniper CEO by Shaygan Kheradpir.
Starbucks
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
