Howard Schultz, former Starbucks CEO, says Steve Jobs ‘screamed in his face’ telling him to fire his entire leadership team—and he was right
In 2008, Apple founder Steve Jobs “screamed” in the face of Starbucks then-CEO Howard Schultz, encouraging the coffee chain boss to fire his leadership team.
Schultz is a familiar face at the helm of the Seattle-founded brand, having had three separate tenures in the corner office. His first was in 1987—when he and local investors purchased the brand—until 2000, when he took a step back to focus on global expansion as chief strategist.
The timing of Schultz’s second two appearances is important: 2008 was a year the company was in crisis and was in dire need of a turnaround, and the final return came after the coronavirus pandemic, when the ship needed steadying.
But despite Schultz being repeatedly used as a safe pair of hands for the brand worth more than $92 billion, he has still leaned on other notable Fortune 500 CEOs. And it was during his 2008 tenure that he was introduced to Jobs and sought his advice on navigating the board of directors he had inherited.
Speaking on the Acquired podcast that was released last week, Schultz recounted the first contact he had with Jobs: “There was a future meeting scheduled for Starbucks and Apple around mobile order and pay and other things. I met Steve on a phone call—had never met him—was talking to him on the phone and I’m telling him what’s going on.”
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