Kenny G: Grammy award winner, popular jazz icon, and Starbucks drink mastermind.
Arguably the world's most popular modern saxophonist, Grammy winner, hair icon, and toilet paper sellout Kenny G might also be the creator of the world's most popular calorie-packed brain freeze.
Arista Records
Kenny G's history with the company goes back over 20 years, when his uncle reportedly became "the very first guy that gave [chairman and CEO] Howard Schultz money to get Starbucks growing."
![Kenny G's history with the company goes back over 20 years, when his uncle reportedly became "the very first guy that gave [chairman and CEO] Howard Schultz money to get Starbucks growing."](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uiksTUHeX-PnDmTI2GbImdoC9mcRdGRDYrzow6HuQwMo2cI7D2auv_JBjLqj93r3w5Y_srrvTL=s0-d)
"My uncle called me and said, 'I know you been selling some CDs, meet this guy Howard Schultz, give him some money for this company Starbucks. You’re gonna like Howard,'" Kenny G told Bloomberg. His lack of coffee knowledge didn't deter him: "I thought, 'I don’t know what he’s really talking about when it comes to coffee, but this is a winner.'"
Arista Records / Via youtube.com
As an investor, Kenny made his opinion known. The self-proclaimed “sweet guy” let his tastes dictate his suggestions. "At the beginning, Starbucks didn’t have anything but coffee,” he explained, harkening back to a time most of us would find unimaginable.
"... There was another company, Coffee Bean, that had something called 'blended' that was a sweet drink, and people were lined up around the block. And I would always call Howard and say, 'Howard, there's this thing that they do there that's like a milkshake or whatever.' And so I think that part of the reason that they did Frappuccino was people like me giving them that kind of feedback. So I'd like to think that I was partially responsible for that."
Bloomberg / Via bloomberg.com
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