Howard Schultz Net Worth

Net Worth:	$4 Billion
Date of Birth:	July 19, 1953 (71 years old)
Gender:	Male
Profession:	Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Television producer, Screenwriter
Nationality:	United States of America

What is Howard Schultz’s net worth? How does Howard Schultz make his money? Below is the current net worth of Howard Schultz and how Howard Schultz makes his money.

What is Howard Schultz’s Net Worth?

Howard Schultz is an American billionaire entrepreneur who has a net worth of $4 billion. He is widely recognized for being the CEO of Starbucks. He served in that capacity from 1986 to 2000. He again held this position from 2008 to 2017. Then he was appointed as a short-term CEO in 2022. Additionally, Howard possessed the Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise and has openly declared candidacy in several US presidential elections.

Early Life

Born on July 19, 1953, Howard Schultz was raised in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City by Jewish parents Elaine and Fred. As a result of experiencing extreme poverty, he grew up in the Canarsie public housing projects. Howard schooled at the Boys’ Club of New York as a teenager. He later attended Canarsie High School.

After graduating from high school in 1971, he went to Northern Michigan University, where he obtained his BA in Communications and graduated in 1975.

Early Career and Starbucks

Howard stayed back in Michigan after his graduation and worked for a year at a ski lodge. He then returned to New York City and worked as a salesman for Xerox. Thereafter, he became the general manager of Hammarplast, the American subsidiary of the Swedish kitchenware manufacturer PAI Partners. He also controlled the coffee machine manufacturing operations here.

In 1982, Schultz was recruited by Starbucks as the director of marketing and retail operations, when he was 29. A year later, after returning from a trip to Milan, Italy, he attempted to convince Starbucks owners Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin to begin selling coffee drinks besides the whole bean coffee, tea leaves, and spices the company was already selling. On the other hand, the Starbucks owners thought otherwise. They did not share Howard’s enthusiasm.

As a result, in 1985, Howard left Starbucks to launch his own coffee shop, which attracted investment from Starbucks worth $150,000, and $100,000 from local doctor Ron Margolis. He had raised enough money to open his store, which he named Il Giornale, in 1986. Howard bought the Starbucks retail unit in 1988, from the company’s management team who diverted their attention towards another business named Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Howard then renamed Il Giornale with Starbucks.

On the 26th of June, 1992, Starbucks had its first IPO, which raised $271 million. From 1999 to date, Starbucks has launched several coffee stores in China. In 2000, Howard stepped down as the company’s CEO and served as its Chief Global Strategist. After serving in this capacity for eight years, he then became the CEO again in 2008. During this period, Starbucks was constantly in the negative limelight over its employee labor conditions and its tipping policies.

Consequently, Starbucks experienced an extensive layoff that affected its executives, and also, a close-down of hundreds of Starbucks stores ensued. He then implemented fair trade and ethical source policies, redoubling the company’s yearly purchase of fair trade coffee. Starbucks affiliated with Arizona State University, introduced the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, in 2014. Starbucks currently has more than 33,000 stores in over 80 countries globally.

In 2016, Howard stepped down from being CEO to being an executive chairman. In 2017, he declared his retirement from active management. However, he became a temporary CEO in 2022.

Other Ventures

Howard led a group of investors to purchase the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics and WNBA’s Seattle Storm in 2001. He allegedly ran the franchise more like a business rather than a team. In 2006, he sold the team to Clay Bennett, Oklahoma City Thunder executive, as a result of a decline of his request for a renovation of KeyArena.

Howard has also co-written and published a number of business books, including Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time in 1997, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for its Life Without Losing its Soul in 2011, etc.

Schultz is best known as a very bold neoliberal technocrat and openly expresses his opinions on issues like free trade, gun control, etc. He is also recognized as a deficit hawk, economy-wise, and a liberal hawk on foreign policies. He has declared candidacy in US Presidential elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020, eventually pulling out each time.

Personal Life

Howard married Sheri Kersch in 1982 and they have two children together. The couple’s primary residence is in the Madison Park area of Seattle. Howard and his wife are founders of the Onward Veterans and Schultz Family Foundation.

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