Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz took a dig at President Trump by saying there is a ‘very big difference’ between someone who has run a global public company and someone who never had to answer to a corporate board.
Schultz, who is stepping down from his job running the coffee empire and will become chairman emeritus at the end of the month, is refusing to say whether he is planning a run for president – but says he intends to be a ‘great American citizen.’
He blasted the Trump administration’s ‘vitriolic behavior,’ but acknowledges Trump made it possible for someone to be able to leap directly from business to the White House.
Asked about the concept of a CEO president, Schultz, 63, told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ on Monday, ‘There is a bifurcation between when you say a CEO. I have run a public company for 26 years as a fiduciary. The current president ran a private company where from what I understand, he’s running a private company with – I don’t know if there was a board,’ Schultz said.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz blasted the Trump administration’s ‘vitriolic behavior’ but wouldn’t commit to his own presidential run
‘I don’t know what responsibilities he had to other shareholders. Bob Iger has run a public company,’ he said, referencing the Disney CEO who said he had considered a run of his own.
‘So when you’re talking about a CEO in terms of public office, there is a very big difference between someone who has run a global enterprise like myself, who has traveled to China probably more than any other CEO in the last 10 years – who understands those issues, versus someone who has a run a private company with very little fiduciary responsibility to other shareholders,’ he said.
Schultz also slammed where he said Trump was taking the country. He cited the ‘lack of dignity, the lack of respect. The vitriolic behavior coming rom this administration. I think we can do much better.’
CUTS LIKE A KNIFE: ‘I have run a public company for 26 years as a fiduciary. The current president ran a private company where from what I understand … I don’t know if there was a board,’ Schultz said. Here Trump and his children Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony during a news conference to mark the opening of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto April 16, 2012
WAKE-UP CALL: Howard Schultz, Executive Chairman of Starbucks visit the Seeds&Chips Summit on May 7, 2018 in Milan, Italy
He also blasted Trump on trade, as the administration slaps tariffs on China, Europe, and North America, and allies threaten retaliation in the trade war.
‘This rhetoric about all these trade wars that are now being engaged with China, with Mexico, with Canada. And this might sound like a trite line, but it’s important. We should not be in the business of building walls,’ Schultz said.
‘We should be in the business of building bridges, with our neighbors and allies. And our standing in the world today is not what it should be and we have to advance America’s values around the world and we have to deal with the systemic domestic issues in the country.’
He called for ”servant leadership. We have not had servant leadership in government in a long time where we are working in service of the American people,’ he said.
OUTREACH: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz greets employees and others at the coffee shop around the corner from the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church June 19, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina. Schultz came to comfort and support the employees who work at the store in the wake of a shooting that left nine people dead at the church Wednesday
GET A BOARD: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the coffee company’s annual shareholders meeting in Seattle. Starbucks Corp. says Schultz is stepping down as executive chairman later this month of the coffee chain he joined more than 30 years ago. He went after Trump by saying he never had to contend with a board of directors
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Starbucks chief took a shot at Trump, saying, ‘We should not be in the business of building walls’
Starbucks Chairman, President and CEO Howard Schultz speaks at Starbucks biennial investor meeting in Seattle, Washington December 4, 2014
WHO WILL BE TOP OF THE TICKET? Howard Schultz (L), CEO of Starbucks, applauds on stage next to surprise guest Oprah Winfrey during the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Seattle, Washington March 19, 2014
Schultz said he is writing a book, and delayed his planned departure from the company after a blowup over black patrons who got booted from a Philadelphia store.
‘What we’re really talking about is leadership. Authentic leadership,’ he said. ‘I think the country is longing for truth … We’re all in this together,’ he said. ‘What kind of a country do we want to live in? We can’t live in a country in which we’re divided we have to love our fellow countrymen.’
He also called out the rise of the vocal strength of the left forces in the Democratic Party – forces that happen to have major sway in party primaries.
‘It concerns me that so many voices within the Democratic Party are going so far to the left,’ he said. ‘And I ask myself how are we going to pay for all these things in terms of things like single payer.’ He went after those who make ‘false promises.’
Schultz was non-committal about his plans.
BOARD MEETING: Donald Trump and Eric TrumpnOpening of Albemarle Estate at Trump Winery, Charlottesville, America – 14 Jul 2015
“There’s a lot of things I can do as a private citizen other than run for the presidency of the United States,” he told the program. ‘Let’s just see what happens’ – a favorite phrase of Trump’s.
“I don’t know what that means right now,” he continued. “But my concern for the country and the standing in the world, the lack of dignity, lack of respect coming from the administration. I think we can do much better.”
‘I can’t be nailed down today on the specifics of what I might or might not run for,” he said.
On immigration, he said: ‘I think we need border security. But there’s a lot of non-truths. As an example, two-thirds of the undocumented people were talking about are not people that have crossed a border. They’re here because their visa has expired.”