Howard Schultz steps down as Starbucks' executive chairman
He announced his retirement after helming the global coffee brand in key positions for decades.
Starbucks co-founder Howard Schultz announced that he will be stepping down from his executive chairman position this month, leaving the company after a significant tenure of more than 40 years.
“This whole opportunity for me is not to give a speech, it’s really a giant, giant hug for me to warmly and sincerely thank you for the levels of contribution that you have made, and the level of sacrifice your families have made to allow us to do these things together,” he said in a town hall-style meeting with friends, colleagues and partners about his retirement.
According to Starbucks’ report on Schultz's announcement, his leadership saw the global coffee brand growing from 11 stores to 28,000 in 77 countries while stock prices increased 19,000 percent since their initial public offering in 1992.
"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 said in a previous letter he sent to partners about his departure.
He will now become chairman emeritus by June 26 amid speculation of U.S. presidential ambitions by 2020.
(Photo credit: Starbucks)
