Howard Schultz For President? Starbucks CEO Says No

Over the weekend, the big apple instances columnist Maureen Dowd reported that influential pals of Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, “had been urgent him to sign up for the Democratic primary, considering the time is right for any person who’s now not a political lifer.” The news unfold quick, and via Monday it hit the highest of Drudge report, with a picture of Schultz smiling above the screaming headline: “STARBUCKS CEO urged TO challenge HILLARY!”

Cue the Drudge siren.

The information coincides with common experiences that Joe Biden is also taking into consideration a White house bid, a sign of the inevitable hobby to diversify the Democratic ticket, the place Hillary Clinton continues to ballot some distance ahead of her competition. Schultz, along with his personal sector bona fides, millennial sensibilities, and deep pockets, would certainly current a bold challenge. however does Schultz even have any pastime in making the transition from Seattle to Washington? In late April, when we last met for our recent function on Starbucks, he might not were any longer express in quashing rumors of a 2016 run. “I have no desire to be in an elected place in government,” he advised me. “That’s now not what I’m seeking to do.”

Whispers of Schultz’s presidential aspirations have lengthy dogged the 62-yr-outdated coffeehouse chief. certainly, he has a close to-perfect résumé for the job: his humble roots in the Bay View tasks of Brooklyn; his rise at Starbucks, where he sent the corporate soaring from eleven retailers in 1987 to round 22,000 these days; and his return to the helm in 2008, in the midst of the recession, restoring the behemoth’s struggling health and bringing it back to new heights. He’s engaged with a slew of philanthropic missions and an array of public-dealing with issues, launching high-profile efforts in education, veteran affairs, racial equality, and homosexual rights, amongst others. No marvel Time magazine featured Schultz on its duvet earlier this year, teasing that his 2016 candidacy was the one field he had left to take a look at.

nonetheless, even in that story from February, Schultz indicated he was once now not excited about operating and that he would wait regardless to “see what Hillary does.” by the time we reconnected months later, in April, Clinton had just announced her presidential bid. So I requested Schultz as soon as once more, now that Hillary is running, does that imply he’s ruling out a run? “I used to be never operating for president,” he answered stoically.

that implies you’re by no means going to run? “I don’t have any want to be in an elected position in government,” he mentioned. “That’s not what I’m seeking to do. and i truly do imagine that i will do way more as a private citizen, to impact exchange, than if I was in Washington.” He made no attempt to be coy about or obfuscate his intentions. although he spent a minute complaining about senator Mitch McConnell’s managing of Loretta Lynch’s affirmation as lawyer basic, he was fast to broaden his sentiments towards more at ease speaking factors relating to how he desires to make use of the Starbucks platform to persuade societal trade. “I don’t assume I might ever do that on any degree sitting in Washington trying to fight the current established order of dysfunction and polarization,” he advised me. “That’s now not for me, and not how I want to spend my time.”

in fact, Schultz could alternate his mind, or perhaps his “strong friends,” as Dowd refers to them, could persuade him to run. David Geffen, for one, has been urging Schultz to jump in the race for the reason that 2008 (and let’s now not put out of your mind Geffen used to be a mighty supply for Dowd’s reporting right through Clinton’s closing White house run).

It’s important to note, then again, that Schultz has spent much of the closing 12 months no longer best flattening rumors of a campaign run, but additionally trying to show that change isn’t likely to come from Washington. regardless of Dowd’s fact that Schultz has “honed a message about making govt work again,” for the most phase, the alternative is in fact the case: generally, Schultz has argued that Washington is simply too broken to get anything else achieved, and that options must come from the personal sector. That’s why he launched a $250 million education initiative to offer training to Starbucks employees for a web-based faculty program, and why he helped launch a company coalition to hire a hundred,000 youths with the aid of 2018. “What should the position be for a for-revenue, public firm in an international through which…Washington does not provide a lot of what we’d like?” Schultz said recently defining the query that has preoccupied him these days.

Having spent vital time interviewing Schultz and tagging together with him to situations in ny, Seattle, and Atlanta, i will keep in mind his attraction. He’s a natural at commanding a room, and is ready to talk from the center a couple of vary of delicate concerns without it seeming disingenuous or forced. regardless of his politics, there’s definitely Schultz would make a compelling addition to the 2016 race. I’m just now not certain he’s done but cementing his legacy at Starbucks.