Howard Schultz

If you want to see the future of retail, look no further than Starbucks. Under Schultz, it is becoming as much a tech behemoth as it is a coffee giant. He has made big hires from Adobe Systems and Juniper Networks and is leading the industry with its integrated rewards program and mobile ordering and payment; a fifth of the company’s U.S. transactions now take place on mobile. Cracking the code on delivery is next. The transformation is paying off. Starbucks has enjoyed 23 consecutive quarters of same-store-sales growth of 5% or more, along with record revenue and operating income and a market cap approaching $100 billion. Schultz has defied critics by proving that the company has yet to reach its saturation point; he increased store traffic and built new locations that are brewing up scalding sales in their first year. His “Race Together” initiative fell flat, but the damage was brief: Schultz’s name was floated as a possible presidential candidate.