In 2008, Apple founder Steve Jobs “screamed” in front of then-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, encouraging the coffee chain owner to fire his leadership team.
Schultz is a familiar face at the helm of the Seattle-founded brand, having held three different positions in the corner office. His first venture 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.
His second stint was from 2008 to 2018 before returning for a final one-year stint in 2022.
The timing of Schultz’s next two appearances was important: 2008 was a year when the company was in crisis and desperately needed a turnaround, and his last return came in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, when the ship needed to steady.
Although Schultz has been used multiple times as a security aide for the brand worth more than $92 billion, he still relies on other high-profile names Fortune 500 CEOs. It was during his tenure in 2008 that he was first introduced to Jobs and sought his advice on how to run the board he inherited.
talking about ‘get’ In a podcast released last week, Schultz recalled his first contact with Jobs: “Starbucks and Apple plan to have a meeting in the future to discuss issues such as mobile orders and payments. I met Steve on the phone. My husband – who had never met him before – was talking to him on the phone and I was telling him what had happened.
Jobs invited Schultz (the company is headquartered in Washington) to Apple’s offices in Cupertino, California, to discuss the matter in person. At the time, Apple’s offices were located in what is now the famous “Infinite Loop” campus, which consists of six buildings surrounding an oval courtyard.
Jobs was famous for his courtyard walks, a habit now adopted by current Apple CEO Cook, who is known to frequently wander around Apple Park’s circular headquarters.
“[Jobs] “I loved walking,” Schultz recalled. “He would go out and walk around the building. So I went over there and we basically took a walk. I just told him all my problems – all the things that were going on.
“He just stopped me and said, ‘This is what you need to do.’ He looked at me and said, ‘You go back to Seattle and fire everyone on the leadership team. ” I thought he was joking.
Schultz said he retorted, “I said what are you talking about about ‘fire everybody?'” He said, “I just told you that.” Fucking fire all these people. He was like screaming in my face, “Fire all these people, this is what I’m going to do.” I said, ‘Steve, I can’t fire all these people, who’s going to do the job?
“He said, ‘I guarantee you, in six months, maybe nine months, they will all be gone. And he was right. They’re all gone except for one general counsel.
Jobs and Schutz did meet again, and Jobs’ prediction proved correct.
“I’ve spoken to him since then, we were on stage at an event together and I told him: ‘They’re all gone.'” He said: “Well, you’re six months, nine months late. , think of all the things you could have done.”
missed opportunity
As the world’s largest coffee chain, with more than 32,000 stores worldwide, Starbucks clearly takes full advantage of the opportunities provided.
However, Schultz regrets a number of decisions, chief among them not trademarking the term “latte” (often shortened to latte) in the United States.
While the origins of the latte (essentially milk mixed with coffee) can be traced somewhat back to 17th-century Europe, the drink became standardized in the United States in the 1970s with the help of Starbucks.
“We introduced lattes to America,” Schultz added. “We didn’t trademark it. Later we trademarked Frappuccino, but we didn’t trademark the latte. I didn’t expect that.
