Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. will appoint Roz Brewer, chief operating officer of Starbucks Corp., its next chief executive, according to people familiar with the matter, establishing her as the only black woman to run a Fortune 500 company today.
Ms Brewer will replace Stefano Pessina, who said in July she would step down as CEO after the pharmacy found a new leader. Mr. Pessina, one of Walgreens’ largest individual investors, said he intends to remain on the company’s board of directors and serve as chief executive officer.
Walgreens shares, which have a market value of about $ 43 billion, rose 7.4% hours after The Wall Street Journal reported the move.
Starbucks said Tuesday that Ms. Brewer is leaving in late February for a new role at another public company. Prior to joining the coffee chain, Ms. Brewer was CEO of Walmart Inc.’s Sam’s Club division. for five years.
Ms. Brewer, 58, has been chief operating officer and board member of Starbucks since 2017. She helped move Starbucks toward a focus on pandemic operations and worked to diversify the company’s management. Starbucks said last fall that it would link executive compensation to the growing representation of the minority in its workforce and impose antibiotic training for company leaders.