Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz to step down
Starbucks Corp.’s Howard Schultz will step down as executive chairman and as member of the retailer’s board at the end of the month, according to a memo from Schultz to employees late Monday. Shares of Starbucks fell more than 2% after the news, and they recently pared losses. Schultz is credited with taking the coffee giant from a local Seattle chain to a global powerhouse. He will become Starbucks’ chairman emeritus on June 26. “As I prepare to step away, I’d like to humbly remind you not to lose sight of what matters most: your fellow partners and our customers,” Schultz wrote. “Onward with love,” he signed off. Starbucks last month closed for one afternoon for employee anti-bias training, after a video of two men being handcuffed and removed by at least six police officers from a Philadelphia Starbucks went viral in April. The men were waiting for a business associate.