As Starbucks continues to roll out its “Back to Starbucks” campaign, longtime CFO Rachel Ruggeri, who referred to the initiative as the “right strategy” on the company’s most recent earnings call, is leaving. She is being replaced by Cathy Smith, who is departing retailer Nordstrom for the role.
Smith has a lengthy history of financial leadership positions at public companies. During her nearly 40-year career in corporate finance, she has held CFO positions at Raytheon, Textron, Kennametal, Centex, GameStop, Walmart, Express Scripts, Target, Bright Health, and Nordstrom. She is also chair of the audit committee for the PPG Industries board of directors and chair of nominating and governance at Baxter International.
Ruggeri’s departure marks her third exit from Starbucks during her career. From 2001 to 2008, she was director of finance before accepting a CFO role at the Pacific Retirement Community Network. She later rejoined Starbucks as director of finance for an internal finance management system called Hyperion in early 2010, eventually rising to senior vice president of finance of the Americas by late 2017.
Eight months into that role, she left the company entirely for a CFO position at Continental Mills, where she stayed for just over two years. She then came back to Starbucks once again during the COVID-19 pandemic, in June 2020, and was promoted to CFO in February 2021, a role she has held until now.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who notably departed from the CEO role at Chipotle amid the retirement announcement of longtime CFO Jack Hartung — forcing Hartung to rescind that announcement — has since led multiple changes to help address the challenges the organization faces.
Since his arrival in September 2024, Niccol has streamlined operations through corporate layoffs and the elimination of some regional executive roles. He has also focused on enhancing customer experience in U.S. locations by revamping stores, returning condiment bars that were removed during the pandemic, going back to Sharpie use on cups to help revitalize some of Starbucks’ legacy branding, simplifying the menu and extending maternity leave to help improve employee sentiment.
Smith is one of several new leaders to come on board during Niccol’s tenure, which has resulted in some leadership turnover. In late January, Niccol hired Mike Grams, who served as chief operating officer when Niccol was CEO at Taco Bell, as Starbucks’ inaugural chief stores officer. Meredith Sandland, who also worked with Niccol on Taco Bell’s leadership team, was hired as chief store development officer around the same time.
Niccol also made headlines upon his hiring for mandating that Starbucks’ Seattle-based corporate team return to the office in some capacity while keeping his working environment flexible. His 1,000-mile commute was negotiated during his hiring process, allowing him to operate the company from his home in California while using the company’s jet to travel to Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters — a flexibility that isn’t offered to any other leaders in the company.
