It was never going to be easy for intermittent Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to testify on Wednesday before a Senate committee. Chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the members questioned Schultz about Starbucks’ treatment of workers and unions—and, in some cases, alleged illegal union-busting. But what really got under the former CEO’s skin was Sanders and other committee members repeatedly referring to him as a billionaire.
“This moniker ‘billionaire,’ let’s get at that okay?” Schultz said during the hearing. “I grew up in federally subsidized housing, my parents never owned a home, I came from nothing. I thought my entire life was based on the achievement of the American dream. Yes I have billions of dollars, I earned it. No one gave it to me.”
