Investing.com -- Starbucks Corporation (O:SBUX) announced Tuesday that former chief operating officer Troy Alstead has resigned from his position, a full year after he took an extended "coffee break," from the Seattle-based company to spend more time with his family.
Alstead, 52, informed Starbucks in late-February that he would not be returning from his unpaid leave, the company said in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Alstead's resignation was effective on February 29. Alstead, who joined the company as an employee in 1992, was promoted to COO in January, 2014, after spending more than six years as the company's Chief Financial Officer.
Previously, Alstead served as the company's senior vice president of finance and global business for nine months through April, 2008. Four years into Alstead's tenure with the company, he was one of the original members of the company's international team, which was responsible for expanding the company into Japan and Singapore.
“I’ve been wanting to invest more time in my family – with four kids at home and one of them ready to go off to college – and every time my wife and I talked about it, I’d think ‘not yet, not yet, not yet,’” Alstead said last February before leaving for the sabbatical. “The reason I know I can step away now is because the company is in extraordinary shape. Starbucks depth of leadership and financial performance are exceptional, and the strategy has never been clearer."
"All of this makes it possible for me to leave for a while. Not easy, but possible.” Alstead told Starbucks.com last winter that he planned to engage in volunteer work aimed at helping protect marine life in the area, ride his motorcycle often and scuba dive on occasion during his sabbatical.
"I'd say Starbucks changed my life, but it's bigger than that," Alstead said. "Starbucks created and shaped my life."
Shares in Starbucks ticked up 0.01 or 0.02% to 60.05 in after-hours trading.