At Bloomberg View Joe Nocera muses:
I hope Schultz doesn’t run for president. As I said in a recent column, I don’t think he would have the stomach for it, especially once the mud-slinging begins. He is guileless, and he wears his sincerity on his sleeve. These qualities may make him a decent human being and a charismatic CEO, but he’ll be ripped to shreds if he goes into politics.
Schultz wants to stay in the public arena once his post-Starbucks life begins at the end of this month. “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 told Sorkin.
With a lot of ex-CEOs, “giving back†is little more than a platitude. I don’t think that will be the case with Schultz. Whatever he does next will be done with the same sense of purpose, the same guilelessness, and the same sincerity, as his efforts at Starbucks. And who knows? It might even make a difference.
I don’t think he needs to worry about that. I think that Mr. Schultz has decided to sell his Starbucks stock at the highest value it will see for a while and he can’t very well do that as company CEO, can he? Call it the “Schultz Put”. I think he’s betting that recent events will cause Starbucks’s stock to decline for the foreseeable future.
“I think he’s betting that recent events will cause Starbucks’s stock to decline for the foreseeable future.”
Then he’s less guileless and more schmuck. It reminds me of an old cartoon showing an airplane pilot and co-pilot jumping out the door with parachutes on, while advising passengers “remember folks, heads between your knees.”
Say it ain’t so, Joe.