he Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) CEO Brian Niccol has only been with the company since September 9 of last year. The only comment he made at the time was to acknowledge Starbucks problems and offer vague solutions. 24/7 Wall St. Key Points: Starbucks new CEO Brian Niccol made $96 million even though he has been with the company just a few months. It is an acknowledgment of how important it was to the Starbucks board to get him as the company’s leader. He released a letter to customers and investors in which he listed what Starbucks turned around would look like.