2025.09.20 – Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks, Elliott Investment Management, Argentina, Domingo Cavallo, and Brian Niccol

Posted byLeonardo Tomás CardilloPosted inUncategorized

Exhaustive Narrative of Facts

Laxman Narasimhan’s Professional Roles

Laxman Narasimhan has been a member of the board of Verizon, trustee at Brookings Institution, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served as CEO of Starbucks, Reckitt, and PepsiCo. He has also been an advisor to Turing.ai, WisdomLabs, and Absolute Bio. His description highlights him as a transformational leader focused on strategy, digital innovation, operational excellence, and investing in an era of deglobalization and artificial intelligence.

Appointment and Exit from Starbucks

He became CEO of Starbucks in March 2023 after a six-month immersion that included working as a barista and visiting stores. In April 2024, he publicly noted a challenging consumer environment in the U.S. and severe difficulties in China affecting sales. He launched the “Triple Shot Reinvention” strategy, aimed at employees, operations, and customers. On August 13, 2024, Starbucks announced he was stepping down immediately as CEO and board director. Reports described this as a removal or ouster. Starbucks stated in an SEC 8-K that his departure was not due to any disagreement with the company. Brian Niccol, then CEO of Chipotle, was named his successor.

Reasons for His Departure

Reports linked his removal to declining sales, weak performance in China, investor dissatisfaction, and pressure from activist investors, including Elliott Management. Activist shareholders were described as pushing for leadership change.

Narasimhan’s Public Statements

He did not issue a detailed public explanation after his departure. In earlier interviews, he spoke about work-life balance, saying, “I don’t work past 6 pm unless it is something truly important” (translated from original) and, “If someone asks me for a minute of my time after 6 pm, it must be important” (translated from original). These remarks resurfaced after his exit but were not presented as official reasons for his removal.

Personal Life and Routine

Narasimhan was born in 1967, making him about 58 years old in 2025. He is married, has two children, and lives in the Washington, D.C. area. His workday typically lasted about 10 to 11 hours, beginning early and ending at 6 pm, after which he dedicated time to his family. His leadership style emphasized cultural immersion and employee engagement.

Comparison with Brian Niccol

Brian Niccol previously led Chipotle’s turnaround, simplifying menus, strengthening operations, and accelerating digital growth. His style emphasizes long, flexible hours, quick execution, and customer-focused decisions. Compared to Narasimhan’s structured schedule and cultural focus, Niccol’s approach is faster, pragmatic, and aimed at immediate results.

Current Status of Narasimhan

As of September 17, 2025, he has not taken another major executive position. He remains on Verizon’s board, is a trustee at Brookings, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. No further appointments have been documented.

Elliott Investment Management Overview

Elliott Investment Management L.P., founded in 1977 by Paul Singer, is one of the largest activist hedge funds. It is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, since 2020. As of June 30, 2025, it manages about US$76.1 billion in assets with approximately 622 employees. Paul Singer is President, co-CEO, and co-Chief Investment Officer, with Jonathan Pollock as co-CEO. The firm uses multi-strategy investing, including distressed debt, private equity, arbitrage, real estate, and activist equity.

Elliott’s Activist Methods

Elliott pushes into companies by acquiring significant stakes, publishing open letters, launching proxy battles for board seats, conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations, and, in sovereign cases, pursuing litigation and asset seizures. They also use media pressure to build narratives around underperformance.

Elliott and Argentina’s Debt Case

Argentina defaulted on about US$95 billion in 2001. Most creditors accepted restructurings in 2005 and 2010. Elliott’s NML Capital refused and demanded full repayment. It sued Argentina in U.S. courts using the pari passu clause. In 2012, Elliott won a ruling blocking payments to restructured bondholders unless holdouts were also paid. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Argentina’s appeal. Elliott attempted asset seizures, including detaining the Argentine naval vessel ARA Libertad in Ghana in 2012, later released. In 2016, after Mauricio Macri became President, Argentina settled with Elliott and other holdouts, paying about US$4.65 billion. This ended the standoff and restored Argentina’s access to international markets.

Broader Impact of the Argentina Case

The dispute kept Argentina shut out of international markets for over a decade. The 2016 settlement allowed Argentina to re-enter capital markets, issuing new bonds that were oversubscribed. The case influenced international debate: in 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on principles for sovereign debt restructuring. It also cemented Elliott’s reputation as relentless in creditor enforcement.

Argentina’s Presidency in 2001

The President of Argentina during the 2001 default was Fernando de la Rúa, who served from December 10, 1999, until his resignation on December 20, 2001.

Domingo Cavallo’s Role

Domingo Cavallo was Economy Minister in 1991 under Carlos Menem and introduced the Convertibility Plan pegging the peso to the dollar. This ended hyperinflation but caused competitiveness issues and debt dependence. He returned in March 2001 under President de la Rúa, imposing austerity measures and the “corralito,” which froze bank deposits. These policies accelerated the crisis. Analysts view the roots as structural imbalances and external shocks, but Cavallo’s measures contributed significantly to the collapse.

Domingo Cavallo’s Current Status

Domingo Cavallo was born July 21, 1946, in San Francisco, Córdoba, Argentina. In 2025 he is 79 years old and alive. He left active politics after 2002. He has taught at Harvard University as Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies in 2003–2004, at New York University’s Stern Business School as Visiting Professor of Economics, and as a Senior Fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute. He also writes books, runs a personal blog on economics, and gives lectures. He divides time between Argentina (Buenos Aires and Córdoba) and the United States, particularly around his academic engagements. He remains a controversial figure: credited with ending hyperinflation in the 1990s but blamed by many for the 2001 collapse.

Sources

Published by Leonardo Tomás Cardillo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardocardillo

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