For 35 years, Howard Schultz carried the key to our original store in his pocket as a reminder of where we started. At our 2017 Annual Shareholders Meeting, he passed it on – to his successor as ceo, Kevin Johnson.
Though he had, in his own words, “venti-sized shoes to fill,” Kevin brought with him decades of experience, including 16 years at Microsoft and five leading Juniper Networks. In 2008, he was appointed to the National Security Telecommunication Advisory Committee where he worked under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
He first joined us in 2009, serving on our board of directors during a period of record-setting transformation and growth. In March 2015, he became our president and chief operating officer.
Kevin is a servant leader who's passionate about the human connection at our heart – the tens of millions of interactions large and small that happen between partners and customers every week, and make a meaningful difference in communities around the world.
