Former Starbucks CEO retires from board

Howard Schultz stepped down as CEO in March.

Strabucks’ modern-day found and chairman emeritus Howard Schultz retired from the Board of Directors as part of the company’s planned transition, the company said in a statement.

"As I reflect on my 41 years with the company, a foundation of love and creative, passionate customer experience has been built by over five million partners (employees) around the world who have worked in the company," Schultz. 

"My gratitude to them and the millions of stakeholders and customers that have helped Starbucks endure is beyond measure. I am enormously blessed to have experienced this journey from the ground floor at the company these many years.  I look forward to supporting this next generation of leaders to steward Starbucks into the future as a customer, supporter and advocate in my role as chairman emeritus," he added.

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Schultz stepped down as the CEO in March and was replaced by Laxman Narasimhan. 

Meanwhile, Starbucks said Wei Zhang, who served as a senior advisor to Alibaba Group, has been elected to the company’s Board of Directors starting on 1 October.

Zhang led the Alibaba Group’s international business and media strategy for over a decade, also serving as president of Alibaba Pictures Group.

She also led leadership roles at News Corp China and CNBC China, and held senior positions at Bain & Company and General Electric.