Starbucks had six stores in 1987. Bill Gates' father saved the deal.
Howard Schultz had 60 days to find $3.8 million.
In 1982 Schultz took a job at Starbucks, a Seattle shop that sold coffee beans. To open his own, he asked 242 people for money and 217 said no. He opened Il Giornale in 1986.
In 1987 the owners offered him Starbucks for $3.8 million. About 30 days in he was about $2 million short, and one of his own investors made an all-cash offer. According to Schultz, Seattle lawyer Bill Gates Sr. told the rival to stand down. Schultz bought Starbucks that year.
In 2018 he said: "If it weren't for Bill Gates Sr. there would be no Starbucks."
Its annual report counted 40,990 stores in September 2025. On 2 October 2026 its stock market value was about $108 billion.
On a project, know who will speak up for you when a nearly signed deal is challenged.
One-minute true story. AI-generated illustration with narration by an AI voice.
Who backed you when a deal was about to slip?
What the captions say
- This is how Bill Gates's father saved the deal that let Howard Schultz, a coffee-bar owner, buy Starbucks. In 1987, it had six stores.
- In 1982, Howard Schultz drove from New York to Seattle for a job at a shop that sold coffee beans.
- A year later, in the espresso bars of Milan, he found what he wanted to build at home.
- To open his own coffee bar, he asked 242 people for money. 217 said no.
- He opened it in 1986 and called it Il Giornale. A year later, Starbucks' owners offered to sell him the company.
- Six stores, for $3.8 million. He had 60 days, and he was about $2 million short.
- About 30 days in, one of his own investors went behind his back with an all-cash offer for the same company.
- Then a Seattle lawyer stepped in. He stood 6 ft 7. His name was Bill Gates, the father of Microsoft's co-founder.
- According to Schultz, Gates told the rival investor that he was going to stand down, and that Howard would buy the company.
- That year, Howard Schultz bought Starbucks for $3.8 million, the price the owners had offered him.
- Starbucks went public in 1992. As of September 2025, it had 40,990 stores.
- On 2 October 2026, Starbucks had a stock market value of about $108 billion.
- In 2018, Schultz said: "If it weren't for Bill Gates Sr. there would be no Starbucks."
