Howard Schultz

Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and multi-billionaire. He was Chairman and Chief Executive of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 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. In 1998 Schultz co-founded Maveron, an investment group, with Dan Levitan. He was named by Forbes in 2016 as the 232nd richest person in the United States, with a net worth of $3.7 billion as of April 2019.Schultz resigned as the Chief Executive of Starbucks and became Executive Chairman in April 2017. He was succeeded as CEO by Kevin Johnson. Schultz retired as executive chairman in June 2018, then becoming Chairman Emeritus of the company. Long known for his outspoken political views, Schultz announced in January 2019 that he was exploring a run in the 2020 United States presidential election as an independent candidate. However, in June 2019, he announced he was temporarily suspending his presidential bid, citing health concerns.