In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 19 July 1953
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York City, United States
- Country
- United States
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- Building Starbucks's coffeehouse business after founding Il Giornale and acquiring the earlier Starbucks company's assets
- Education
- Northern Michigan University, communications degree, 1975
- Joined Starbucks
- 1982, retail operations and marketing
- Founded Il Giornale
- 1985; acquired Starbucks assets in 1987
- 2023 CEO handover
- 20 March 2023, to Laxman Narasimhan
Why this life matters
Schultz connected a café concept with a large retail organization. His career also exposes tensions between an employer-led benefits model, central management and workers' demands for independent representation.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Brooklyn
Schultz was born on 19 July and grew up in New York City.
Graduates from Northern Michigan
He earned a bachelor's degree in communications before pursuing a sales career.
Joins an existing Starbucks
Schultz joined the Seattle coffee-bean retailer as director of retail operations and marketing.
Il Giornale and the asset purchase
He founded Il Giornale in 1985; it acquired Starbucks's assets and adopted the name in 1987.
Returns as CEO
After leaving the CEO role in 2000, Schultz returned to executive management during a difficult period for the company.
CEO and board departures
Laxman Narasimhan became CEO on 20 March; Schultz's board resignation was effective on 12 September according to the company's filing.
Brooklyn, college and a sales career
Howard Schultz was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 19 July 1953. He grew up in Canarsie and later described his father's injury and lack of employment benefits as formative experiences. That account became central to how he explained his approach to running a company. Northern Michigan University confirms that he earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1975.
After college, Schultz worked in sales, including at Xerox and the American business of household-products company Hammarplast. Equipment orders led him to investigate a small Seattle coffee retailer. His early connection to Starbucks therefore came through an established supplier-customer relationship, not through opening its original store. Commercial curiosity and experience selling to other businesses preceded his own café venture.
An existing retailer and a new café company
Starbucks began in 1971 as a business selling roasted coffee beans and related products. Schultz joined in 1982 as director of retail operations and marketing. A visit to Milan in 1983 encouraged his interest in espresso bars as social places. The company tested espresso service in 1984, but its owners remained focused on the bean-retail business rather than the broader café concept he favored.
Schultz left in 1985 to establish Il Giornale. Starbucks invested in the new venture and supplied its coffee. Working with coffee specialist Dave Olsen and backed by investors, Schultz expanded Il Giornale before it acquired Starbucks's assets in 1987 and adopted the Starbucks name. He built the later coffeehouse organization, but did not found the original 1971 retailer or invent Italian café culture.
A coffeehouse brand and its workforce
The growing business combined beverages with a recognizable shop environment and repeated service routines. Roasting, purchasing, training and store operations were as important as a brand's public personality. Employees prepared drinks and maintained customer relationships across many locations, while management coordinated a larger organization. Schultz's contribution was entrepreneurial and organizational rather than the creation of every element of the coffee supply chain.
In his 2023 Senate testimony, Schultz highlighted health coverage for eligible part-time workers beginning in 1988 and the Bean Stock equity program introduced in 1991. Starbucks called its employees partners, connecting that language to shared financial participation. These programs were important features of its employment model, but eligibility conditions mattered, and benefits did not settle every question about pay, working conditions or employee voice.
Repeated returns to executive management
Schultz left Starbucks's CEO role in 2000 and returned in 2008. He led another period of management change before handing executive responsibility to Kevin Johnson in 2017, initially remaining executive chair. He retired from that chairmanship in 2018. These were distinct transitions, rather than one continuous CEO tenure stretching across the entire history of the business.
He returned again as interim CEO on 4 April 2022. Laxman Narasimhan assumed the CEO role on 20 March 2023, earlier than an initially announced timetable. Schultz remained a director for several more months. Starbucks's September filing gives 12 September 2023 as the effective date of his resignation from the board and other company positions. The honorary chair-emeritus designation was different from serving as chief executive.
Labor controversy and later philanthropy
Schultz's employee-centered account faced challenges during Starbucks workers' union-organizing campaign. At a Senate hearing on 29 March 2023, Senator Patty Murray criticized the company's anti-union practices and questioned differences in benefits for represented workers. Schultz's written testimony defended the company's conduct, asserted compliance with labor law and emphasized a preference for direct relationships with employees. The disagreement concerned both workplace treatment and who should represent workers in decisions affecting them.
Outside company management, Schultz and his wife, Sheri, supported philanthropic work through their family foundation. In November 2024, Northern Michigan University announced their $1 million gift for first-generation student scholarships and athletics initiatives. His legacy includes substantial business expansion and employment programs, alongside contested labor practices that cannot be resolved by repeating the company's own account of its values.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Howard Schultz
- Did Howard Schultz found the original Starbucks?
- No. Starbucks opened in 1971 as a coffee-bean retailer. Schultz joined in 1982, founded Il Giornale in 1985 and led the venture that acquired Starbucks's assets in 1987.
- What was Il Giornale?
- It was Schultz's café business, inspired by Italian espresso bars. It used Starbucks coffee, received investment from Starbucks and later acquired the earlier company's assets and name.
- When did his 2022–2023 interim CEO term end?
- Laxman Narasimhan became CEO on 20 March 2023, ending Schultz's interim term that began in April 2022. Schultz's board resignation followed, effective 12 September 2023 according to the company's filing.
- Why are labor relations part of his biography?
- Schultz emphasized employee benefits and direct management-worker relationships, while union supporters and senators challenged Starbucks's response to organizing. His March 2023 Senate testimony defended the company's conduct; those positions should not be confused with an independent resolution of every labor case.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Ray Kroc
Compare a different restaurant expansion model built around individual franchise operators and central standards.
- Meg Whitman
Read about eBay's early CEO; Schultz was also listed among that company's directors in its 1998 annual report.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. EBSCO Research StartersHoward Schultz, by Angela Harmon
Used for life dates and broad career chronology. Its introductory degree label differs from the communications degree confirmed by NMU and the article's own body; no current wealth or job claims are adopted.
- 2. Northern Michigan UniversitySchultz Family Foundation Announces $1 Million Gift to NMU, 20 November 2024
- 3. StarbucksInspired by Italy, reimagined in Seattle
- 4. Starbucks ArchivesIl Giornale
- 5. United States Senate HELP Committee; Howard SchultzStatement of Howard Schultz, 29 March 2023
Schultz's own dated written position, including his defense of employment practices. Self-reported corporate effects and superlatives are not treated as independent findings.
- 6. United States Senator Patty MurrayAt HELP Hearing on Starbucks Union Busting, 29 March 2023
Senator's dated criticism, explicitly attributed rather than presented as a neutral judicial decision or personal criminal finding.
- 7. Starbucks Investor RelationsLaxman Narasimhan Assumes Role of CEO, 20 March 2023
- 8. Starbucks; United States Securities and Exchange CommissionForm 8-K filed 13 September 2023
Filing specifies resignation effective 12 September 2023; this takes precedence over the following day's press-release shorthand.
- 9. eBay Inc.; document copy hosted by AnnualReportsForm 10-K for 1998, directors on page 43
Page 43 lists Howard D. Schultz as a director, supporting the contextual link to Meg Whitman's eBay career.
