The legendary leader of the Seattle-based coffee company has actually lived the American dream.
The news that the legendary leader of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is stepping down from his role as executive chairman of the ubiquitous chain marks the end of an era for the coffee empire.
Schultz will leave his role as executive chairman, according to a memo sent to employees Monday. He will become the chairman emeritus. The changes will be effective June 26.
The legendary leader of Starbucks coffee is a billionaire almost three times over, with a net worth of $2.8 billion, according to Forbes.
Schultz left his role of CEO in April of 2017 — for the second time. He served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 and then returned to take the helm in 2008.
Monday’s news about Schultz leaving Starbucks reignites speculation that the corporate executive may be making moves into the political sphere. Schultz has been a supporter of former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when she was running for president.
“I’ll be thinking about a range of options for myself, from philanthropy to public service, but I’m a long way from knowing what the future holds,” Schultz said in the memo to employees.
If he did make a run for President, it would be the culmination of Schultz’s classic rags-to-riches story.
Schultz, 64, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in federally subsidized housing in hardscrabble Canarsie.
His father Fred never graduated from high school and held a series of blue-collar jobs including truck driver, factory worker and cab driver. He never made more than $20,000 a year, and with three children to feed, Fred was never able to afford to buy a home.
Schultz talks affectionately about his father in his book, ” Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time,” saying that Fred was an honest man who worked hard, played ball with his kids on the weekend and loved the Yankees.
But he also says that his father was “a beaten man.” His father “had tried to fit into the system, but the system had crushed him. With low self-esteem, he had never been able to climb out of the hole and improve his life.”
When his father broke his ankle at work in 1961, Fred couldn’t go to work. That meant he didn’t get paid. His mother was seven months pregnant at the time and couldn’t work either. When bill collectors called, Schultz or his siblings were instructed to pick up the phone and pretend that their parents weren’t home.
“Our family had no income, no health insurance, no worker’s compensation, nothing to fall back on,” writes Schultz. He didn’t know then that he would become a businessman and job-creator, but, he says, “I knew in my heart that if I was ever in a position where I could make a difference, I wouldn’t leave people behind.”
Schultz went on to graduate from Northern Michigan University, which he attended on a full football scholarship. He became the first person to graduate college in his family. He writes, “To my parents, I had attained the big prize: a diploma.”
Before Starbucks, Schultz worked in sales and marketing at Xerox for three years. He went on to be the Vice President and General Manager of Hammarplast U. S. A., a Swedish housewares company.
Schultz moved from New York to Seattle to join Starbucks in 1982 as director of operations and marketing. Back then, the company only had four stores.
In 1983, Schulz traveled to Italy, where he admired the way the espresso bars in Milan serve as a place for people to meet and share time together outside of the home or the office. He left Starbucks and started his own company, Il Giornale coffeehouses.
In 1987, Schultz returned to Starbucks to buy the coffee shop with the help of a few investors. He also took over as CEO. At that point, there were 17 store locations. Today, there are more than 28,000 Starbucks locations in 77 countries and more than 350,000 people work at the coffee company.
Schultz navigated the company through tremendous growth while remaining socially conscious. In 1988, Schultz made a commitment to offer health insurance to eligible full- and part-time workers, including all domestic partners of employees. In 1991, Starbucks started offering “Bean Stock,” or company stock, making employees partners in the company, according to the letter Schultz sent out Monday.
Schultz is gracious in deflecting the spotlight.
“Starbucks has been in business now for 45-plus years. You know, I’m not putting myself in the class of Tom Brady or any other athlete that has been at the cornerstone of success on a team sport,” Schultz tells CNBC. “This is a team sport. It has always been a team sport. I’ve gotten more credit that I deserve. The company has a large base of fantastic leaders.”
Still, Schultz is largely seen as the smarts behind much of Starbucks’ success and its evolution into a global brand.
He has accumulated a stack of awards, including the Distinguished Leadership Award from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the Horatio Alger Award for those who have overcome adversity to achieve success, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Business Ethics given by Notre Dame University’s Mendoza College of Business, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School, and the first-ever John Wooden Global Leadership Award from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
He’s also a best-selling author. After his first book was well-received, Schultz published ” For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice ” (2014) and ” Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul ” (2011).
Schultz’s inspiring journey involves a bit of luck, he admits, but it has also been the result of a fierce determination and unwavering persistence.
“I willed it to happen,” he writes in “Pour Your Heart Into It.” “I took my life in my hands, learned from anyone I could, grabbed what opportunity I could, and molded my success step by step.
