This week, Starbucks Coffee announced that it would let its CEO, Brian Niccol, have free access to the company jet for personal trips as a safety precaution. The move could force other companies to do the same for their executives.
“The assassination of the UnitedHealthcare executive has provided a unique opportunity to give boards air cover to capitulate to a CEO’s desire to travel on a private jet,” a board member of a publicly traded company who is getting pushed to follow Starbucks’ lead, told me.
The change came after the company conducted a “security review of risks” and “the Starbucks Board of Directors made the decision to enhance security measures for Brian,” a spokesperson for the company said. “This included a decision by the Board to require Brian to use private aircraft for all travel. With that requirement, the Board also determined that a quarterly review process provides more appropriate oversight.”
According to an SEC filing that went public earlier this week, the review identified “credible threat actors” targeting Niccol.
Starbucks removed a previous $250,000 annual cap on personal jet use in September 2025. But sources are skeptical it was just about addressing a security concern.
“It wasn’t like he was flying in coach and they were worried he was in danger,” one executive at a publicly traded company told me. “He was flying private for personal travel before — he clearly likes flying private … he just isn’t reimbursing the company anymore.”
Starbucks is consistently ranked one of the top 150 companies by market capitalization in the US, with a more than $100 billion valuation. Niccol joined the company in Sept. 2024 and has worked to jolt slumping sales. For the quarter ending Dec. 28, US sales were up 4%.
The new policy is a precedent for smaller companies to make similar moves — and it could ultimately backfire.
“Private jet use quickly becomes part of the narrative of a bloated cost structure when investors are upset with how a company is performing,” the board member stressed to me. “The first thing they look at is perks because it’s easy to attack and a good soundbite that a company is spending too much money on personal travel.”
NYNext has reached out to Niccol for comment.
