A bad time to take over the helm? New CEOs face extra challenges

Taking the helm of a well-known consumer company is the pinnacle of an executive's career, but the current environment has left new leaders at companies like Nike, Starbucks and Peloton little time to celebrate.

- JORDYN HOLMAN

Settling into the chief executive role is always demanding; there are first-time jitters and outsized tasks. But those who took the role in the past year have also had to deal with shifting policies around tariffs and a potential downturn in consumer spending.

Brian Niccol just hit the one-year mark at Starbucks and is trying to improve the experience of the coffee chain’s customers and workers. But he’s also dealing with higher coffee prices that follow double-digit tariffs on Brazil, a key source of coffee beans around the world.

Nike's Elliott Hill is about to hit his first anniversary in a role that entails bringing the sneaker brand back from a yearlong sales decline and getting more people pumped about it in a crowded footwear market. Yet he’s forced to devote resources and time to reappraising Nike's supply chains in countries like Vietnam and China that are being hard hit by tariffs.

New leaders at REI, Peloton, Michael’s and David's Bridal may relate.

“I joke that I've gotten the full CEO experience in my first nine months — just a few years ahead of schedule,” said Peter Stern, chief executive of Peloton, who started in January. In addition to leading the company’s turnaround — sales have fallen more than a third after a boom during the pandemic — Mr Stern must determine how to price its products, made in places like Taiwan, China and Thailand, where President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs.

At the same time, every company is trying to grow even as consumers shift their spending habits and become increasingly pessimistic about the economy.