Shareholder uses meeting to grill CEO Howard Schultz on gay marriage
Mar 25, 2013, 8:53 AM | Updated: 9:51 am
It was described as an otherwise “upbeat” Starbucks meeting, although one shareholder was ready to give his opinion on why profits weren’t as high as they should have been.
Last year, Howard Schultz stated that the company would support what was then called Referendum 74. The measure passed in November, making same-sex marriage legal in Washington.
Schultz’s statement, while prompting public support, also brought criticism, and a boycott by the group National Organization for Marriage.
At Thursday’s meeting, a shareholder took the opportunity to criticize Schultz’s opinion during a question and answer section.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that the shareholder, questioning whether it was prudent for Starbucks to risk shareholder value by supporting gay marriage, said the boycott affected first quarter profits of the company.
The shareholder, identified as Tom Strobhar, was interrupted by Schultz at least twice, asking him what his question actually was.
Schultz’s response to the comments – the decision made to support R-74 in Washington was made through the lens of “our people.”
“We employ over 200,000 people in the company and we want to embrace the diversity,” Schultz said. “If you feel, respectfully, that you can get higher return than the 38 percent we got last year – it’s a free country. You can sell your shares of Starbucks and buy shares in another company.”
