Alex Wong / Getty Images"The moniker 'billionaire' now has become the catchphrase," Schultz said.Alex Wong / Getty ImagesBillionaire Howard Schultz isn't a fan of being called a billionaire.
On Monday, the former Starbucks CEO and chairman sat down with New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin to talk about his book "From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America."
Sorkin asked Schultz to respond to a question from "Winner Takes All" author Anand Giridharadas - who's been critical of Schultz's political ambitions - about whether or not billionaires wield too much political power in the United States.Schultz appeared to take issue with the question's phrasing, saying, "The moniker 'billionaire' now has become the catchphrase." Schultz's team didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
"I would rephrase that and say people of means have been able to leverage their wealth and their interest in ways that are unfair," Schultz said. "And I think that speaks to the inequality, but it also directly speaks to the special interests that are paid for by people of wealth and corporations who are looking for influence and they have such unbelievable influence on the politicians who are steeped in the ideology of both parties."
The likely presidential hopeful's net worth is around $3.5 billion, according to Forbes. And his comments come at a time when notable Democratic politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders are calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.
But Schultz's concern about the word "billionaire" also echoes that of yet another famous billionaire: Elon Musk.You haven't lived until you've seen Howard Schultz's facial muscles react when @andrewrsorkin asks, on my behalf, if billionaires have too much power in American life. pic.twitter.com/DgbGhA0L5j
- Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) February 4, 2019On July 10, 2018, Musk tweeted that the media uses the term "billionaire" to "devalue" and "denigrate" people. Musk's net worth is $21.3 billion, according to Forbes.
For his part, Schultz ended his response to Giridharadas' question by stressing that he's not beholden to either major US political party.
"All I'm trying to do is one thing: Walk in the shoes of the American people," he said.
Ironically, the "billionaire" label, when used by media, is almost always meant to devalue & denigrate the subject. I wasn't called that until my companies got to a certain size, but reality is that I still do the same science & engineering as before. Just the scale has changed.
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2018