Starbucks President and CEO Howard Schultz showed up for an interview on Monday night’s episode of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. While politicians have books to plug, and celebrities have new movies, Schultz was there promoting his company’s new partnership with Arizona State University.
Starbucks will replace its current tuition reimbursement program and offer an online bachelors program to employees, with freshman and sophomore years coming at a discount and junior and senior years for free. According to Schultz, the partnership marks the first time a US-based company has ever offered free tuition to their 20-hour a week or more employees. “The country is having serious problems, people are being left behind,” Schultz told Stewart, to which Stewart retorted, “This country? How dare you sir, you’ve got some Venti sized balls.”
Venti is Starbucks’ twenty-ounce size.
Schultz was good natured and relaxed during the seven minute interview, during which he derided the zero-sum profitability-first mentality of corporations, dodges questions about the Seattle $15 minimum wage bill, and drove home Starbucks’ people-first way of doing business.
“I’m impressed by it,” Stewart told Schultz. “I think it’s a really nice initiative, and to show support I’m going to go to Starbucks and buy a coffee and an indie rock album.”
Watch the interview below:
