Starbucks, founded in 1971 as a coffee retailer, is headquartered in Seattle and listed under the ticker SBUX. Its cafés, packaged products, and loyalty ecosystem helped turn specialty coffee into a major global consumer brand.
The first Starbucks store opened in Seattle’s Pike Place Market in 1971. The company was founded by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. Howard Schultz joined the business in 1982 and later developed the espresso-bar model that shaped Starbucks’ rapid expansion.
Starbucks’ market capitalization reflects expectations about store growth, customer spending, margins, and brand strength. The company’s name comes from Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville’s novel Moby-Dick, not from a place or type of coffee bean.