Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz. But Schultz isn't singularly focused on the traditional bottom line. He's a dynamic model of a progressive CEO who's as animated by social issues and employee welfare as he is profit margins. The wage hike reinforces Schultz's longstanding commitment to investing in his employees' success, and it positions Starbucks as a key player in the biggest economic story in America today.

How did Schultz, who came from a "working poor" family in the Brooklyn projects, overcome adversity and grow a quaint Seattle coffeehouse into the world's largest coffee chain and a model for conscious capitalism? To pay for school, the communications major took out student loans and took up various jobs, including working as a bartender and even occasionally selling his blood.

Intrigued, Schultz traveled to Seattle to meet the company's then owners, Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. He was struck by the partners' passion and their courage in selling a product that would appeal only to a niche of gourmet coffee enthusiasts. Schultz had an "epiphany" the moment he understood the personal relationship that people could have with coffee.

Schultz wrote in his book, " Pour Your Heart Into It ":. Try to imagine how disheartening it can be to hear that many times why your idea is not worth investing in. It was a very humbling time.

But the investment turned sour as the team struggled and Schultz feuded with players.

In , he sold the SuperSonics to a group of investors that moved the team to Oklahoma City, severely damaging his popularity in Seattle. He later called owning the team "a nightmare. Schultz's sea change included temporarily closing 7, US stores in order to retrain baristas on how to make the perfect espresso. Largely because of Schultz's father's experience when he was injured, Starbucks became one of the first retail corporations to offer every employee including part-time workers complete healthcare coverage as well as stock options.

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Starbucks’ quest for healthy growth: An interview with Howard Schultz | McKinsey & Company

Schultz has wielded his influence to decry open carry gun laws , declare the importance of social diversity and inclusivity , and start a national conversation about race even though that one backfired. Recently, Starbucks launched FoodShare , a program to donate the stores' leftover ready-to-eat meals to food banks across the US. The coffee chain plans to donate nearly 50 million meals by Schultz revealed in " Pour Your Heart Into It " that his tremendous professional success is a tribute to his late father, who "never attained fulfillment and dignity from work he found meaningful.

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Scroll through to learn the story behind Starbucks and its leading man. Additional reporting by Shana Lebowitz.

Schultz was born on July 19, , in Brooklyn, New York. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that growing up in the projects — "loosely described as the other side of the tracks" — exposed him to the world's wealth disparity. He experienced poverty at an early age. When Schultz was seven years old, his father broke his ankle while working as a truck driver picking up and delivering diapers.

At the time, his father had no health insurance or worker's compensation, and the family was left with no income. But by the time he started college, he decided he wasn't going to play football after all. After graduation in , Schultz spent a year working at a ski lodge in Michigan waiting for inspiration.

The life of Howard Schultz, who just gave US Starbucks workers a raise - Business Insider

He finally landed a job in the sales training program at Xerox, where he got experience cold-calling and pitching word processors in New York. There, Schultz ascended the ranks to vice president and general manager, leading a team of salespeople out of the US office in New York. It was at Hammarplast that he first encountered Starbucks. The coffee shop had a few stores in Seattle and caught his attention when it ordered an unusually large number of drip coffeemakers.

At the time, Starbucks had three stores, but it was selling pounds of coffee for home use, Schultz said. Schultz's career — and Starbucks' fate — changed forever when the company sent him to an international housewares show in Milan. He soon started his own coffee company: Il Giornale Italian for "the daily".

At the time, there were six stores. America swiftly took a liking to Starbucks. Running Starbucks came with setbacks, too. The move again positions Starbucks as a leader among corporate giants, specifically in the services economy, where the competition for labor is increasing. And as part of the ", Opportunities Initiative" — an employer-led alliance helping launch the careers of underprivileged youth — the company will hire 10, to year-olds over the next three years.

Schultz's ultimate goal for Starbucks is to use its global platform to better the world. As Starbucks has continued to grow, so has Schultz's fortune. Features Starbucks Howard Schultz Entrepreneurship Billionaires Conscious Capitalism. Recommended For You Powered by Sailthru. Featured Why big data can make HR more important.

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