Starbucks Founder Howard Schultz Leaves Seattle for Florida, Citing Taxes

Howard Schultz, the man who turned a single Pike Place coffee shop into the most visited Starbucks in the world, has traded Seattle's rain for South Florida sunshine, purchasing a $44 million penthouse at the Surf Club, Four Seasons Private Residences in Surfside just as Washington state lawmakers advanced a proposed 9.9% tax on household income above $1 million.

Schultz announced the relocation on March 10 in a LinkedIn post alongside his wife, Sheri, framing the move as a retirement chapter after more than four decades in the Pacific Northwest. "For those of you who know us well, we have entered the 'retirement' phase of our lives," he wrote. "We have moved to Miami for our next adventure together." The couple's new ocean-view unit spans 5,500 square feet with five bedrooms, a central courtyard, and a rooftop terrace at the Surfside property, which the Wall Street Journal described as sitting in what the Seattle Times calls "Miami's uptown beach town."

The timing drew immediate political scrutiny in Olympia. Washington's House approved the millionaire tax the same day Schultz made his announcement, though the bill still needs to clear the state Senate and receive the governor's signature before becoming law. State Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, wasted no time connecting the dots, warning that Schultz's departure could signal broader "capital flight." "He is just a harbinger of things to come," Corry said. Democrats pushed back. Sen. Jamie Pedersen dismissed the tax-motivation theory outright: "He's passed his years of earnings, so I don't think that this is what's causing him to make a decision about where he wants to live."

Schultz himself pointed to family as much as finances. "We are enjoying the sunshine of South Florida and its allure to our kids on the East Coast as they raise families of their own," he wrote. Florida carries an obvious financial advantage: it levies no personal income tax, while Washington, though it doesn't tax wages or salaries, does tax certain investment proceeds. The proposed wealth tax is designed to bridge a state budget shortfall and fund services including free K-12 school meals.

The Schultz family's private office, which manages their personal finances, will relocate to Miami alongside them. The Schultz Family Foundation, a nonprofit the couple established in 1996, will remain in Seattle under Vivek Varma, who has served as the foundation's CEO and vice chair. Varma spent over a decade in Starbucks' executive leadership and nearly 13 years at Microsoft before taking the helm of the foundation.

Schultz's Madison Park mansion, purchased in 1997 on a 1.9-acre parcel overlooking Lake Washington, remains registered to an LLC and has not been publicly listed. Property records show it last traded hands for $3.4 million nearly a decade ago, and Schultz has not disclosed his plans for the property.

The move closes a chapter that began when Schultz and Sheri drove cross-country from New York City in a 1979 Audi with their Golden Retriever, Jonas, arriving in Seattle in 1982. He joined Starbucks on September 7 of that year, when the Pike Place location sold only whole-bean coffee. He went on to serve as CEO three separate times and remains the company's lifelong chairman emeritus, having stepped down from the board of directors in fall 2023.

His net worth is estimated at $6.6 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and approximately $3.5 billion by Forbes. Schultz joins a list of billionaires who have recently made Florida their primary residence, including Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks. "We will be forever grateful for the memories made in Seattle and the relationships built along the way," Schultz wrote, adding his hope that Washington "will remain a place for business and entrepreneurship to thrive.