Learn about the Journey of Howard Schultz, from Life of Poverty to life of a Billionaire
Public Facts About Howard Schultz
- Howard D. Schultz is an American businessman and author, who is currently the Interim, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Starbucks Coffee Company. He served as both chairman and CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, and then again from 2008 to 2017. Schultz also owned the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team from 2001 to 2006.
- Howard D. Schultz was born on July 19, 1953, to Ashkenazi Jewish parents, Fred and Elaine Schultz, in Brooklyn, New York.Fred Schultz was a truck driver. He has two siblings. Schultz grew up in the Canarsie public housing projects. According to Schultz, his family was poor. Schultz spent his time after school at the Boy’s Club of New York.
- Based on this CNBC Report, Howard’s 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. But there were other sides to his father.
- Based on this CNBC Report, Schultz told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that his father was physically abusive. In his book, Schultz also called him “a beaten man” who “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. 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.
Howard Schultz, Former Chairman & CEO of Starbucks
Based on Inspire Yourself Report
There’s not a single person on this planet who haven’t heard of Starbucks, world’s biggest coffeehouse company. However, the former CEO of Starbucks – Howard Schultz was born and raised in poverty, barely making ends meet.
When things got really tough, he even had to sell his blood couple of times. This is the Success Story of Howard Schultz , how He went from living in poverty and struggling for money to survive, to transforming Starbucks into a $100B company.
Public Facts about the History of Starbucks
Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. During the early 1980s, they sold the company to Howard Schultz who – after a business trip to Milan, Italy – decided to convert the coffee bean store into a coffee shop serving espresso-based drinks. As chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000, Schultz’s first tenure led to an aggressive expansion of the franchise, first in Seattle, then across the West Coast of the United States.
Succession at Starbucks & Current CEO
- Schultz was succeeded by Orin Smith who ran the company for five years and positioned Starbucks as a large player in fair trade coffee, increasing sales to $5 billion.
- Jim Donald served as chief executive officer from 2005 to 2008, orchestrating a large-scale earnings expansion.
- Schultz returned as CEO during the financial crisis of 2007–08 and spent the succeeding decade growing the company’s market share, expanding its offerings, and reorienting the brand around corporate social responsibility.
- Kevin Johnson, the previous CEO, succeeded Schultz in 2017. In March 2022, Starbucks announced that Schultz would return as CEO in April 2022.
Learn in this Video, How a Poor Kid from Brooklyn Created Starbucks
Based on this CNBC Story, Under the careful watch of Howard Schultz, Starbucks pursued a strategy of aggressive expansion in the late ’80s and early ’90s. By the time the company went public in 1992, it had 165 stores. Four years later, Starbucks opened its 1,000th location, including international cafes in Japan and Singapore. Growth was so rapid that, just two years later, Starbucks opened its 2,000th cafe.
Based on this CNBC Report, Schultz’s journey involves a bit of luck, he admits, but it has also been the result of a fierce determination and unwavering persistence. When Schultz announced his departure from Starbucks, he reflected on his humble beginnings. “I still feel like a kid from Brooklyn who grew up in public housing,” he wrote in June. “I am living the American Dream. And I still have dreams for the company, and for you.”
Howard Schultz’s Journey Can be Summarised Below with his own Quote
I willed it to happen, I took my life in my hands, learned from anyone I could, grabbed what opportunity I could, and moulded my success step by step.
Howard Schultz writes in Pour Your heart into it.
