Negotiate an independent "social mission" board into the acquisition agreement
#00102
When a sale can't be stopped, negotiate an independent 'social mission' board into the acquisition agreement—with defined authority over values, advocacy, and brand integrity held separately from the parent's commercial control. Only as strong as courts will enforce it, but bette
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. / Unilever (later The Magnum Ice Cream Company)· since 2000· Global
Ben & Jerry's was sold to Unilever in 2000. Co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield could not block the sale (shareholders voted to accept), so they negotiated an independent board into the share-purchase agreement w…
Years of relative mission autonomy under the independent boardfounder-owned (pre-2000)~20 (2000–2021)years
Major lawsuits over mission control03 (2022, November 2024, 2025–26)suits
3 sources