Howard Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman. He was CEO of
Starbucks from 1986–2000 and again from 2008–2017, as well as its executive chairman from 2017 to 2018. He is a former owner of the
Seattle SuperSonics, and was a member of the Board of Directors at
Square, Inc.[3] In 1998, Schultz co-founded
Maveron, an investment group, with
Dan Levitan.
[4] He was named by
Forbes in 2016 as the 232nd richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $3.1
billion as of April 2017.
[5]
Schultz resigned as CEO of Starbucks and took an executive chairman position in April 2017.
[6] He was succeeded as CEO by
Kevin Johnson.
[7] Schultz retired as executive chairman in June 2018, becoming chairman emeritus, amid speculation that he had U.S. presidential ambitions for the
2020 election.
[8] In January 2019, that speculation gained steam,
[9] culminating on January 27, with Schultz announcing that he would explore a presidential bid as an independent candidate.
[10]
Early life and education
Schultz was born to a
Jewish family
[11] on July 19, 1953, in
Brooklyn, New York, the son of Elaine (Lederman) and her husband, ex-
United States Army trooper and then truck driver Fred Schultz.
[12][13][14] With his younger sister, Ronnie, and brother, Michael, he grew up in the
Canarsie Bayview Houses of the
New York City Housing Authority. As Schultz's family was poor, he saw an escape in sports such as baseball, football, and basketball, as well as the Boys Club. He went to
Canarsie High School, from which he graduated in 1971.
[15] Schultz attended
Northern Michigan University[12] and was the first person in his family to go to college. A member of the Theta-Iota chapter of
Tau Kappa Epsilon, Schultz received his bachelor's degree in speech communication in 1975.
[13]