Key Points
- Ben & Jerry’s board chair, Anuradha Mittal, is refusing to resign under pressure from Unilever.
- Unilever wants her out, citing an audit that found issues at the separate Ben & Jerry’s Foundation.
- Mittal alleges the audit was a “manufactured inquiry” meant to undermine the board’s independence.
- The conflict is part of a long-running feud over Ben & Jerry’s political activism.
The chair of Ben & Jerry’s independent board, Anuradha Mittal, is digging in her heels, saying she has no plans to resign despite intense pressure from parent company Unilever. The conflict is coming to a head just as Unilever prepares to spin off its ice cream division, including Ben & Jerry’s, into a new public company called Magnum on Monday.
Unilever’s new Magnum division claims that Mittal “no longer meets the criteria” to lead the board. The company points to an internal audit of the separate Ben & Jerry’s Foundation. At this non-profit, Mittal is also a trustee, and it says it found issues with financial controls and governance.
Mittal fired back, calling the investigation a “manufactured inquiry” designed specifically “to attempt to discredit me.” She sees this not just as a personal attack, but as “Unilever’s attempt to undermine the authority of the Board itself.” She insists she is simply upholding the brand’s social mission, a key part of the original 2000 merger agreement with Unilever.
This public feud is the latest chapter in a long-running clash between the famously progressive ice cream brand and its corporate owner. The independent board, created to protect Ben & Jerry’s social activism, has sued Unilever twice over its attempts to control the brand’s political statements, particularly regarding the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
Adding another layer to the dispute, the foundation’s board says Unilever and Magnum are withholding the funding it is contractually obligated to provide. Their lawyer suggested Unilever either ignored governance issues for 20 years or has an “ulterior motive” for raising them now, just before the spinoff.
