That missing comma in the original hed is rather unfortunate. I’m honestly surprised both Ben and Jerry are still alive!
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has stepped away from the ice-cream brand after nearly 50 years, according to a post by the other founder, Ben Cohen.
Cohen’s post shared what he said was a letter from Greenfield in which he called it one of the “hardest and most painful decisions” he had ever made.
Greenfield said the company had been silenced by Unilever and its independence to speak up on global issues was “gone”.
“If the company couldn’t stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all,” Greenfield said.
I guess he can cry himself to sleep on the giant pile of money that he sold out to Unilever for.
Sure, but this is also Unilever altering the deal, pray they alter it no further.
In 2000, Unilever struck a $326m deal to buy the business, a move that at the time reportedly did not please Greenfield, with stipulations including the creation of the brand’s own independent board to allow it to continue to take progressive stances on social and political issues and uphold its core values.
They did try to buy it back, to no avail.
@Powderhorn This is disappointing to hear. B&J’s has always been very outspoken about social issues, and it’s something I was glad to see that they were able to do. It seems unlikely to be a coincidence that now is when they feel unable to continue doing so.
