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Starbucks’ CEO, Brian Niccol, made $30.9 million in 2025

That includes $997,392 in expenses related to his use of the company’s private jet.

1/27/26 4:03AM

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made just over $30.9 million in 2025, less than a third of what he made in the last four months of 2024 after the company poached him from Chipotle.

The bulk of Niccol’s 2025 compensation consisted of a $5 million bonus and nearly $20 million in stock awards, a Monday regulatory filing showed. It also included $1.1 million in security costs and $997,392 in expenses related to his use of the company’s private jet, which transports him from his home in Southern California to Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle.

In 2024, he made $96 million in his first four months on the job, which included a $5 million signing bonus and a stock award of about $90 million. From 2017 to 2023, Starbucks spent a total of $103 million paying its CEOs.

The coffee giant has struggled to find sales growth over the past few years, which is why the board recruited Niccol to lead a turnaround.

In its most recent quarterly report, the company reported its first positive comparable-store sales growth since 2023. Starbucks is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday morning.

$35.4B

Max Knoblauch3/16/26

The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have cost automakers at least $35.4 billion since the start of 2025, according to a new analysis by Automotive News.

That total will continue to climb this year, since the Supreme Court’s February tariff ruling largely leaves the 25% levy on vehicles and auto parts untouched.

Toyota has taken the biggest hit, projecting more than $9 billion in tariff costs in its fiscal year ending this month, while Detroit’s big three automakers — Ford, GM, and Stellantis — were hit with a combined $6.5 billion tariff charge in 2025.

In the fourth quarter, automakers sold about 8% fewer imported vehicles in the US compared to the same period a year ago, per the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Tariff charges come at a rough time for legacy carmakers, which are also scaling back EV plans following the Trump administration’s elimination of tax credits and fuel standard goals. According to Automotive News, the cost of EV write-downs and restructuring is, so far, nearly $70 billion.

Universal Studios is giving theaters a longer minimum exclusive run

Universal will now guarantee a minimum of five weekends before a movie hits home screens — which might help theater companies like AMC finally get back to profitability.

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Tesla Will Open Up Its Chargers To Other Brands, In Order To Receive Federal Subsidies

After a big pullback for EVs, climbing gas prices are causing drivers to eye them again

Still, the market is much different than it was the last time oil prices were this high.

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Hyunsoo Rim

burgernomics

3/13/26

McDonald’s plans $3 menu items as fast food loses its price edge

Americans are spending more of their dining-out dollars at full-service restaurants again.

Fast food value meals for Trending feature in Food

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How Tesla quietly wound up owning a small piece of SpaceX

Tesla is converting its recent $2 billion investment in Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, into a small ownership stake in SpaceX — just months before the rocket maker’s highly anticipated IPO.

Here’s what happened: Tesla announced its xAI investment in late January, after a shareholder proposal to invest fell short last year. Several days later, xAI merged with SpaceX. All three companies are headed by Musk.

Now, regulatory filings with the Federal Trade Commission show Tesla converting that investment into a small stake in SpaceX, formalizing the financial link between the companies ahead of the rocket maker’s IPO. SpaceX is expected to go public this year at a valuation some speculate could top $1.75 trillion, potentially making it the biggest company to ever go public. (The current record holder, Saudi Aramco, went public at a more than $1.7 trillion valuation in 2020.)

While the size of Tesla’s stake wasn’t available, Bloomberg reports that the investment would equate to ownership of less than 1%.

While SpaceX and Tesla have engaged in related-party transactions over the years, Tesla had not previously disclosed an equity investment in SpaceX.

Tesla Converts xAI Investment Into SpaceX Stake Ahead of IPO