Jerry Baldwin

Jerry Baldwin is an American entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of Starbucks, the world's largest coffeehouse chain. Born in 1942, Baldwin, along with his two co-founders, English teacher Gordon Bowker and writer Zev Siegl, established Starbucks in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. The trio were inspired by their mutual passion for high-quality coffee and their desire to bring the European-style coffee experience to the United States.

1. Starbucks: The first Starbucks store, located in Seattle's Pike Place Market, focused on selling premium coffee beans and coffee-making equipment, rather than serving prepared coffee beverages. The founders named the store after the first mate in Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick" and modeled the company's logo after a 16th-century Norse woodcut of a twin-tailed mermaid.

Under Baldwin's leadership, Starbucks gained a reputation for sourcing and roasting high-quality coffee beans, and the company expanded to multiple locations throughout the Seattle area. In 1982, Baldwin hired Howard Schultz, who later traveled to Italy and was inspired by the country's espresso bars. Schultz convinced Baldwin to experiment with selling coffee beverages at Starbucks, which eventually transformed the company's business model.

2. Sale of Starbucks and Il Giornale: In 1987, Baldwin, Bowker, and Siegl decided to sell Starbucks to focus on their other business, Peet's Coffee & Tea. Howard Schultz, who had left Starbucks to start his own coffee chain called Il Giornale, purchased Starbucks for $3.8 million. Schultz combined the two companies under the Starbucks brand and began aggressive expansion, eventually turning Starbucks into the global powerhouse it is today.
3. Peet's Coffee & Tea: In 1984, Baldwin and his partners acquired Peet's Coffee & Tea, a small specialty coffee roaster and retailer founded by Alfred Peet in 1966 in Berkeley, California. Peet was a pioneer in the American specialty coffee movement and had a significant influence on the founders of Starbucks. Baldwin served as the CEO of Peet's Coffee until 2001 and remained on the board of directors until 2012.
4. Other endeavors: Baldwin has also been involved in other coffee-related ventures, such as establishing a coffee plantation in Hawaii and serving as an advisor and investor in specialty coffee companies.

Jerry Baldwin's passion for coffee and his role in founding Starbucks have made a lasting impact on the global coffee industry. Today, Starbucks operates more than 30,000 stores worldwide, serving millions of customers daily and shaping coffee culture across the globe.