Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz is Out

It was a grim week for Starbucks as the company’s executive chairman said he would be leaving the company at the end of the month.

Speculation has risen that Howard Schultz may be interested in running for president. Though he has no said anything specifically yet. “There’s a lot of things I can do as a private citizen other than run for the presidency of the United States,” hes said on Tuesday in an extensive interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “Let’s just see what happens,” he added.

He has been with the company for decades and turned the local coffee chain Seattle into a global powerhouse that has over 28,000 stores in 77 countries.

According to reports, the 64-year old executive had plans to retire and these plans were privately outlined to the company’s board a year ago.

“I want to be truthful with you without creating more speculative headlines,” he told The New York Times.

“For some time now, I have been deeply concerned about our country — the growing division at home and our standing in the world.”

“One of the things I want to do in my next chapter is to figure out if there is a role I can play in giving back,” he continued. “I’m not exactly sure what that means yet.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) and have not been compensated for this article.