Lars Larson: Starbucks founder flees NW tax nightmare

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

The Northwest Nonsense:

One of the most familiar billionaire names here in the Pacific Northwest is packing up and moving thousands of miles away.

Howard Schultz took a tiny Seattle coffee shop and grew it to more than 40-thousand Starbucks worldwide.

Schultz and his wife have lived in the Northwest for decades and by their own account, they love it here.

This morning, on Linked-in they announced they’re leaving.

The reason? The unrelenting greed of the government.

Both Oregon and Washington have state budgets that grew more than 100 percent in the last decade.

Now, I don’t know about YOU, but my paycheck ain’t growing ten percent a year.

So, did the state government decide to limit its own spending to make life easier for citizens? Perish the thought.

Washington has a massive new millionaires tax that comes on the heels of the biggest tax hike in history and with the government warning they’ll be short of cash again by next year.

So, Howard and Sheri Schultz of Starbucks are decamping for a Miami Penthouse that cost a cool 44 million bucks. If that sounds like a lot, it most certainly is.

But without even knowing Howard’s finances, I’ll bet moving out of the new Evergreen State Tax Hell likely saves the Schultz family at least that much.

My question for you, when Governors Kotek and Ferguson tax all the billionaires and millionaires out of the Northwest, who do you think they’re coming for next?

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of Honestly provocative talk. I’m Lars Larson