After four decades as CEO and Chairman of Starbucks, during which time the company grew from 11 stores to more than 28,000 locations in 77 countries, Howard Schultz will be stepping down on June 26. Myron E. Ullman, the former chairman of JCPenney, will be the next chair of Starbucks Board of Directors, while Schultz will take a chairman emeritus title.
Schultz had handed over the CEO job to Kevin Johnson in April 2017, ending his second stint in that role. From 1987 to 2000 Schultz was Starbucks CEO, and after a hiatus he returned to the position in 2008. During the past decade alone, Starbucks has increased its market value from $15 billion to $84 billion.
Even more than most chief executives, Schultz was the public face of an innovative brand. He became well-known for socially conscious programs such as offering comprehensive health care, stock ownership and free college tuition to Starbucks employees, even for those working part time.
Advertisement
“I set out to build a company that my father, a blue-collar worker and World War II veteran, never had a chance to work for,” Schultz wrote in a letter addressed to past and present Starbucks associates. “Together we’ve done that, and so much more, by balancing profitability and social conscience, compassion and rigor, and love and responsibility.”
Schultz’s move fuels speculation that he is considering a move into politics, possibly as a Democratic candidate for president in 2020. He has been critical of President Trump, including a 2017 statement that he is “a president that is creating episodic chaos every day.”
While not specifically ruling out a political career, Schultz told The New York Times, “I intend to think about a range of options, and that could include public service. But I’m a long way from making any decisions about the future.”
Starbucks itself has recently been a political flash point, after police were called at a Philadelphia store because two black men were waiting for a friend without having bought anything. The retailer closed its 8,000 U.S. stores for anti-bias training on May 29.
