Press release
Starbucks Announces Transitions to Its Board of Directors
Howard Schultz to retire as director; Starbucks honors Schultz as lifelong Chairman Emeritus, forever inspired by his passion, heart, spirit, and commitment
About this update from Starbucks Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nHoward Schultz to retire as director; Starbucks honors Schultz as lifelong Chairman Emeritus, forever inspired by his passion, heart, spirit, and commitment to the power of human connection\n\n\nElects Wei Zhang to join Board of Directors, bringing more than 20 years of experience in global operations, consumer technology and corporate business development\n\n\n SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nStarbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced Howard Schultz, the company’s modern-day founder and chairman emeritus, will step down from the Board of Directors effective today as part of a planned transition. Schultz previously stepped down as chief executive officer in March of this year.\n\n\n“As I reflect on my 41 years with the company, a foundation of love and creative, passionate customer experience has been built by over five million partners (employees) around the world who have worked in the company,” said Schultz. “My gratitude to them and the millions of stakeholders and customers that have helped Starbucks endure is beyond measure. I am enormously blessed to have experienced this journey from the ground floor at the company these many years. I look forward to supporting this next generation of leaders to steward Starbucks into the future as a customer, supporter and advocate in my role as chairman emeritus.”\n\n\nSchultz, who has long encouraged Starbucks partners to “dream big and then dream bigger,” transformed Starbucks from a small company selling only whole beans to the renowned third place that it is today with more than 36,000 stores in 86 markets around the world. Starbucks went public on June 26, 1992. Since then, the stock price has increased on a split adjusted basis to $96.24 today, as of September 12, 2023, representing an increase of approximately 36,000 percent or, including dividends, a total return of approximately 41,000 percent on the investment compared to an approximately 1,000 percent total return for the S&P 500 over the same period.\n\n\nAlong the way, Schultz focused on creating opportunities for partners such as he never had growing up in the housing projects of Brooklyn, New York. Under his leadership, Starbucks became one of the first employers to offer company stock ownership and health care for full and part-time employees, pathways to higher education by providing upfront tuition coverage...