EntertainmentEntrepreneurship

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Invests in Ryan Clark’s Media Company

Howard Schultz is investing in Ryan Clark's Pivot25 Productions as Clark's post-ESPN comeback keeps gaining major momentum.
By 
September 22, 2026
2 mins read
Ryan Clark

Ryan Clark continues his dominance after his firing from ESPN, and the latest sign of that momentum is a major new investor. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is taking a stake in Pivot25 Productions, the media enterprise former NFL player and analyst Clark helped found, according to Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times.

The deal comes after Clark’s high-profile falling out with ESPN this past summer. Per Sorkin’s reporting, Schultz will become an investor and strategic adviser to Pivot25, with plans to help the company move beyond podcasting into live experiences, executive corporate partnerships, brand licensing, and multiplatform entertainment projects.

The world has been watching ever since Clark was fired during a commercial break. In his response to the controversy. Clark broke down his feelings on his podcast, The Pivot.

“Let me tell you why I know I was fired. When the Kyren Lacy news broke, there were people on our network, along with me, who said something about it,” Clark explained. “Both of those people apologized, as did I… I didn’t want to. After being told he could not come to work until he apologized. Well, I can’t come to work tomorrow, because I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Clark announced the news on news anchor Craig Melvin’s latest episode of Glass Half Full.

“The first thing [Schultz] did was send me this long text message, and he talks about what happened to me,” Clark said of Schultz. “He talks about this deep dive he’s done on me since he saw it happen.” Clark goes on to say how Schultz mentioned he wanted “to not only be a part of my comeback, but he believes that I’m a brand. He believes in things that I stand for, which I hadn’t heard from somebody of his stature who didn’t look like me. I’m just being honest.” 

Ryan Clark is Fired Up

Clark pitched Schultz on a single show, but the former Fortune 500 CEO encouraged him to think bigger.

With ESPN in the rearview, Clark has been unstoppable. The former Super Bowl champion signed a multi-year distribution deal with streaming giant Netflix. Months after leaving his work home of the past decade, fans have been impressed by Clark’s comeback. Love from social media has been at an all-time high.

Since the announcement of The Pivot Sports with Ryan Clark, the outpouring of love has not stopped. Recently, the Emmy Award-winning commentator showed his gratitude while dropping statistics.

“Week 1 didn’t seem real!” Clark posted on his Instagram. “Can’t thank y’all enough for tapping in with us! Over 2 million watched, and 400+ million views, shares, posts, and comments.” The Pivot host’s success after ESPN continues to make headlines, especially since he revealed that he has a non-compete with ESPN for the remainder of his contract, which expires at the end of February.

“There are reasons why I can’t be on a network, right? Because, as the contract goes, if you are laid off, you get to be paid. Which for me is the last day of February,” he said. “So until that point, I still have an opportunity to make money from them.”

Clark’s YouTube now boasts 1.5 million subscribers, with fans appreciating the engagement he does across social media as well as his excitement before analyzing recent sports games.