Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz comes out against Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up tech giants like Amazon (SBUX)

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• Howard Schultz does not agree with Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up tech giants such as Amazon and Facebook, the former Starbucks CEO told Business Insider on Friday. 
• "What I do agree with is the government needs to create oversight — not regulation — oversight, to provide the American people with the safety and security, specifically on the issue of privacy," Schultz said. 
• Earlier in March, Warren announced a regulatory plan that would break up some of the most massive tech companies in the United States, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

DENVER, Colorado — Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO who is "seriously considering" a presidential run as a centrist independent, has come out against Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up tech giants like Amazon. 

"I do not agree with Elizabeth Warren," Schultz said in an interview with Business Insider on Friday.

"What I do agree with is the government needs to create oversight — not regulation — oversight, to provide the American people with the safety and security, specifically on the issue of privacy," Schultz continued. 

Earlier in March, Warren announced a regulatory plan that would break up some of the most massive tech companies in the United States, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon. The proposal includes plans to roll back major deals, such as Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, and bar companies from sharing users’ data with third parties.

Read more: Elizabeth Warren says she wants to break up big tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Facebook

In an interview with Business Insider in Denver, Colorado, Schultz emphasized the importance of oversight over regulation in regards to "very large and very powerful" tech companies. 

"These companies have developed with great speed, a level of technology that … has outpaced the government’s ability to create legislation and oversight, specifically on the issue of privacy," Schultz said. 

Instead of breaking up tech companies, Schultz said the government has a responsibility to have experts analyze what oversight is necessary. 

Schultz announced in late January that he is "seriously considering" running for president as a centrist independent. In the weeks since, he has criticized what he calls the far right and far left for failing to provide center-of-the-road policies and solutions. 

"I’m as concerned with the current left-leaning tilt of the Democratic party towards socialism and the leading Democratic nominees at this point … as I am about reelecting Donald Trump," Schultz said on Friday. 

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Source: Business Insider – ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)