On this day, July 19 in the year 1953, the man who made Starbucks a global coffee chain was born in New York, USA. His name is Howard Schultz, one of the most popular self-made billionaires. According to forbes.com, his net worth is $3.7 billion as of July 18, 2020.
Howard was raised in a Jewish family who lived in a government housing project. His father was a truck driver and a former US Army trooper. When Howard was 7 years, his father became unemployed due to a broken ankle. Having no insurance, the family had to rely on the meager income of his mother who became a receptionist. Howard had two other siblings.
In 1975, Howard finished a degree in communications from Northern Michigan University where he studied on a football scholarship. After graduation, he worked as a sales representative at Xerox Corporation. Four years after, he became a manager at a Swedish-owned coffee equipment company. At that time, Starbucks Coffee was a customer and Howard became friends with the owners. A year later, he joined Starbucks as director of marketing. In 1985, he left Starbucks to set up his own coffee shop which was patterned after those he saw in Italy. Two years later, he bought Starbucks and became its CEO. In 1992, Starbucks became a listed company with 140 outlets. Today, the company has more than 23,000 stores all over the world.
Howard married twice and has three children.