Howard Schultz
Born 1953 · Age 72
American businessman and author; longtime chairman & CEO of Starbucks; former majority owner of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics. Known for expanding Starbucks into a global coffeehouse chain, founding Il Giornale and Maveron, authoring four business/policy books, and political activity including an exploratory independent 2020 presidential bid.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Brooklyn, New York
Howard D. Schultz born to Fred and Elaine Schultz in Brooklyn (Ashkenazi Jewish family).
Family moved to Bayview Houses (Canarsie), Brooklyn
Schultz family moved into federally subsidized housing in Canarsie, Brooklyn; formative low-income upbringing.
Entered Northern Michigan University
Enrolled at Northern Michigan University on a football-related scholarship; member of Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Graduated Northern Michigan University (B.A., Communications)
Graduated NMU with a B.A. in communications (1975).
Hired as Xerox salesman
Began career in sales at Xerox in New York, learning sales and marketing skills.
Recruited to Hammarplast (Perstorp) as US GM
Joined Swedish housewares subsidiary Hammarplast as general manager/Vice President overseeing U.S. operations.
Visited Starbucks (business trip)
Visited Starbucks in Seattle to fill plastic cone filter orders while at Hammarplast; first exposure to the company.
Hired by Starbucks as Director of Retail Ops & Marketing
Joined Starbucks as director of retail operations and marketing (first long-term Starbucks role).
Married Sheri Kersch
Married Sheri Kersch; the couple later had two children.
Trip to Milan – inspired by Italian coffee culture
Visited Italy (Milan) as part of a buying trip; influenced by espresso bars and Italian coffee culture — transformational in Schultz's vision.
Pilot Starbucks espresso/cafe concept in Seattle
Persuaded Starbucks founders to trial café-style espresso service in a downtown Seattle store; pilot successful but founders reluctant to expand.
Left Starbucks to start own coffee business
Departed Starbucks after founders declined rapid café expansion; began fundraising to open Il Giornale.
Began fundraising for Il Giornale
Sought $400,000 to start Il Giornale; raised investments including $150,000 from Starbucks, $100,000 from Dr. Ron Margolis; approached 242 investors, 217 rejected.
Opened first Il Giornale coffeehouse
Launched Il Giornale (named after Milanese newspaper) — first store opened by 1986; concept included coffee, ice cream, opera music.
Purchased Starbucks retail unit; rebranded Il Giornale to Starbucks
Il Giornale/Schultz bought Starbucks' retail unit (reported $3.8M purchase in Wikipedia; other sources report ~$4M) and adopted the Starbucks name; began national expansion.
Named Chairman of Starbucks (per some sources)
Schultz is reported by some sources (Britannica) to have become chairman in 1985; after Il Giornale acquisition he led the company expansion through late 1980s.
Starbucks IPO — raised $271 million
Starbucks went public (ticker SBUX) on June 26, 1992; IPO raised $271M and was used to rapidly expand store count.
Co-founded Maveron venture capital firm
Established Maveron with Dan Levitan to invest in consumer-focused startups (notable investments include eBay, Shutterfly, Zulily).
Coordinated Starbucks first store opening in China
Led the company into China with the first store opening in January 1999 — start of major China expansion strategy.
Stepped down as Starbucks CEO (moved to Chief Global Strategist)
On June 1, 2000 Schultz stepped down as CEO to become chief global strategist; Orin C. Smith succeeded him as CEO.
Led purchase of Seattle SuperSonics & Seattle Storm (majority/group)
Led a group of 10 investors to buy the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA's Seattle Storm from Ackerley Group for $200M.
Public dispute with player Gary Payton
Feuded publicly with Gary Payton after Payton missed the first day of training camp; highlighted Schultz's hands-on, business-first management of the team.
Announced need for $200M arena renovation/new arena
Stated the SuperSonics required $200M to renovate KeyArena or build a new arena; threatened to sell or move team if funding not approved.
Sold SuperSonics & Storm to Clay Bennett (sale)
Sold the SuperSonics and Storm to Professional Basketball Club LLC (Clay Bennett) for $350M; sale later led to team relocation and controversy.
Horatio Alger Award Recipient (Class of 2007)
Awarded the Horatio Alger Award in recognition of perseverance and success from humble origins.
Starbucks agreed pay increases and fair trade deals (UK/Ethiopia agreements)
Entered agreement with Ethiopia in 2007 to increase pay to farmers and committed UK stores to Fair Trade certification by year-end; became largest buyer of fair trade coffee.
Doubled fair trade coffee purchases
Redoubled fair trade and ethical sourcing commitments; within two years reportedly increased annual fair trade coffee purchases up to ~40M lbs.
Closed and retrained stores; fired executives to restructure
Closed hundreds of stores, temporarily shut U.S. locations to retrain baristas, fired executives to right-size company during 2008 crisis.
Returned as Starbucks CEO amid financial crisis
On January 7, 2008 Schultz returned as CEO to lead company through downturn; succeeded Jim Donald.
Sold Seattle Storm to Force 10 Hoops (team kept in Seattle)
New ownership sold the WNBA Storm to local group Force 10 Hoops on Jan 8, 2008, keeping the Storm in Seattle.
Filed lawsuit to rescind sale of SuperSonics
Filed suit in April 2008 alleging fraud by new owners; dropped the lawsuit in August 2008.
SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City (Thunder)
City of Seattle reached settlement on July 2, 2008; the SuperSonics franchise moved to Oklahoma City for 2008–09 season.
Approved $100M tip settlement (class action)
Starbucks and board approved a $100 million settlement for back tips in a California class action by baristas (March 2009).
Served on Square, Inc. board (until 2014)
Sat on the board of payment-processing company Square, Inc.; left the board in 2014.
Published 'Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul'
Released Onward (2011), a business memoir about Starbucks' turnaround; co-written with Joanne Gordon.
Early/significant stakeholder in Jamba Juice
Reported as an early and significant shareholder/stakeholder in Jamba Juice around 2011.
Launched Starbucks College Achievement Plan with ASU
Partnered with Arizona State University to provide free online tuition to Starbucks employees working 20+ hours per week (launched summer 2014).
Published 'For Love of Country' (veterans book)
Released For Love of Country (2014) co-written with Rajiv Chandrasekaran; proceeds used to expand tuition support for veterans' families.
Maveron AUM reported at $1.3B (July 2014)
Venture firm Maveron (co-founded 1998) reported approximately $1.3 billion in assets under management as of July 2014.
Founded Onward Veterans (private foundation)
Started Onward Veterans, a private foundation to help post-9/11 veterans transition to civilian life (2015).
Stepped down as CEO; became Executive Chairman (December 2016)
Announced December 2016 resignation as CEO and assumed Executive Chairman role; Kevin Johnson succeeded as CEO in April 2017.
Oversaw ~$100B addition to Starbucks market cap (2008–2017)
During Schultz's return as CEO (2008–2017) Starbucks added nearly $100 billion to company market capitalization.
Reported to have taken a $1 annual salary
Reported in 2018 that Schultz had, sometime in prior years, taken a $1 annual salary.
Retired from active management of Starbucks (June 2018)
Announced retirement from active management after 37 years at Starbucks; Kevin Johnson named CEO, Myron Ullman became chairman.
Accepted responsibility for SuperSonics sale (public regret)
In 2019 publicly stated selling the Sonics was one of his biggest professional regrets and apologized for not waiting for a local buyer.
Joined MasterClass (online leadership course released)
Released an online class on leadership and business topics on the MasterClass platform (early 2019).
Considered and explored independent 2020 presidential bid
On Jan 27, 2019 announced he was exploring an independent presidential run; later hired consultants and said he might spend $300–500M. Ultimately ruled out in Sept 2019.
Published 'From the Ground Up' (book)
Released fourth book From the Ground Up (2019), part memoir and policy vision; New York Times bestseller and appeared on Wall Street Journal bestseller list.
Named 209th-richest American by Forbes (net worth $4.3B)
Forbes listed Schultz at #209 in U.S. with an estimated net worth of $4.3 billion (October 2020).
Endorsed Joe Biden for President
Publicly endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Sept 14, 2020.
Faced renewed unionization drives and public scrutiny
As interim CEO Schultz took a public role during rising union organizing at Starbucks and described unionization as 'an assault', drawing criticism.
Returned as Starbucks Interim CEO
Starbucks announced Kevin Johnson was retiring and Schultz would return as interim CEO on March 16, 2022 until a new CEO took over.
Stepped down early as Interim CEO of Starbucks
Announced on March 20, 2023 that he would step down early from the interim CEO role (originally to hand off in April 2023 to Laxman Narasimhan).
Testified before U.S. Senate HELP Committee about union issues
Appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on March 29, 2023 to testify regarding Starbucks' labor practices and union activity.
Reported participant in private pro-Israel business group communications
Reported (Oct 2023–May 2024 timeline) to be in a private business-leader group that coordinated pro-Israel public-opinion efforts following Oct 7, 2023 attack; Schultz confirmed membership but denied financial participation.
Key Achievement Ages
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