Will Howard Schultz's Biggest Failure Hurt Starbucks Investors?

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) hasn't done many things wrong in its nearly 50-year existence. Founded by three academics in 1971 who learned the coffee business from Alfred Peet of Peet's Coffee and Tea, the founders made the best decision in the history of the business in 1982 by (reluctantly) hiring a young head of marketing: Howard Schultz.

Now executive chairman, former CEO Howard Schultz has had not one, not two, but three successful stints at the company. After leaving the former coffee-roaster to start a coffee shop in 1985, Il Giornale, Schultz purchased Starbucks two years later and became the president and CEO, a position he stepped down from in 2000.

Schultz returned eight years later to steady the ship in the wake of the Great Recession. The company emerged stronger after Shultz's return, doubling revenue over the next nine years. Still, no CEO is perfect, and Schultz is no exception: The small blemish on Shultz's incredible tenure is the company's failed acquisitions while he was its CEO.

Source: Fool.com