Howard Schultz, a multibillionaire and former CEO of Starbucks, reportedly spent $44 million for an expansive penthouse in Florida after deciding to permanently leave his longtime home of Seattle in favor of moving to the Sunshine State.
He made his remark on the same day that a proposed income tax law that would impact all residents of the state who make $1 million or more was adopted by the House in Washington.
The wealthiest citizens in the state would be subject to a 9.9% tax on yearly income over $1 million under the plan, which has now been referred to the Senate. After a 13-hour debate, it was passed by the House in a tight 51-46 vote, according to Axios.
When Schultz, 72, announced his relocation on his LinkedIn site on March 10—the same day he reportedly closed on the acquisition of an opulent property within an oceanfront complex in the affluent Miami neighborhood of Surfside—he did not bring up the tax.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the former Starbucks CEO and his spouse, Sheri, have bought a five-bedroom apartment in the Surf Club, Four Seasons Private Residences, an opulent structure with a view of the ocean.
When compared to the exorbitant $55 million asking price it was first advertised with in November 2024, Schultz and his spouse actually purchased the penthouse for somewhat of a deal, despite the huge price tag associated with the sale.
Five months prior to the unit’s sale, in October 2025, the request was reduced to $49.9 million, according to records.
After living in Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered, for the previous forty years, Schultz announced on LinkedIn that he and his spouse had moved to Florida just as the property deal was closing.
Schultz described how he and Sheri drove across the nation in their 1979 Audi with their cherished golden retriever, Jonas, before relocating to Washington, where his wife was first the “breadwinner in the family.” He recalled the moment he and Sheri landed in Seattle from New York City.On September 7, 1982, I began a new job at Starbucks. The Pike Place Starbucks exclusively offered whole bean coffee back then. It’s currently the most popular Starbucks worldwide,” he wrote.
He stated that he and his spouse still have a strong personal bond with Seattle, but they decided to go to Florida due to its pleasant climate and close proximity to the East Coast, where their kids reside.He said, “For those of you who know us well, we have entered the ‘retirement’ phase of our lives (a term we are both just getting used to).”We visited numerous locations across the globe last year—places we were too preoccupied to visit while constructing Starbucks and raising children.In preparation for our upcoming journey together, we have relocated to Miami. We are relishing South Florida’s warmth and its appeal to our children growing up on the East Coast as they start their own families.”
He affirmed that the couple has relocated their family office to Florida, but added that the Schultz Family Foundation, their nonprofit organization, will continue to have its headquarters in Seattle under the direction of “our dear friend Vivek Varma.”We will always be appreciative of the connections we established and the memories we created in Seattle. “Thank you to the family, friends, and partners who made Seattle our home for so many years,” he said in closing.
Schultz’s relocation puts him on the increasing list of billionaires who have moved to Florida in recent months. Many of them had previously been based in California, including Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks. It appears that they moved to the Sunshine State to avoid a proposed billionaire tax that the Golden State is presently considering.
Although Schultz would not have been impacted by the billionaire tax, which imposes a one-time wealth tax of 5% on anyone with a net worth of $1 billion or more whose primary residence was in California on January 1, 2026, he will probably benefit greatly from his relocation to Florida.
In addition to being impacted by Washington’s proposed millionaire tax, which, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would take effect in 2028, Schultz will also greatly profit from Florida’s absence of an income tax for its citizens.
When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in 2023 that he and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, were moving their principal property from Washington to Florida, CNBC calculated that he would probably save “at least $610 million.”
Even while Schultz, whose estimated net worth is $3.5 billion, will probably not save as much as Bezos, whose estimated net worth is $228.8 billion, he still stands to gain financially from his move, according to Forbes.
The former Starbucks executive has not yet disclosed his plans for his long-standing Seattle property, which he and his spouse are rumored to have bought in 1997.
Situated on a 1.9-acre lot, the spacious home has a view of Lake Washington and is part of the upscale Madison Park enclave.
Property records show that the house is neither on the market nor publicly listed since it was last sold for $3.4 million over ten years ago. At the moment, the mansion is registered to an LLC.
