Ben Cohen: The Ice-Cream Icon Who Built a Global Brand With Heart
Most entrepreneurs set out to build a business. Ben Cohen set out to build a business with a conscience and along the way, he and his childhood friend Jerry Greenfield created one of the world’s most beloved food brands: Ben & Jerry’s. From a small renovated gas station in Vermont to supermarket freezers across the planet, Cohen’s story is the perfect blend of vision, personality, activism, and a lifelong refusal to accept that profits and values must be enemies.
Today, decades after selling the company, Cohen is still fighting – not for market share, but for the soul of the business he helped create.
A Brooklyn Kid With Big Ideas
Ben Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the suburbs. He was never a traditional business student or a corporate climber. In fact, he and Jerry only studied ice cream via a $5 correspondence course – and that’s what launched their journey.
In 1978, the pair opened their first shop in Burlington, Vermont. It was tiny, scrappy, and full of heart. And it didn’t take long before something became clear: Ben & Jerry’s wasn’t just selling ice cream. It was selling joy, community, and a new way of thinking about business.
Cohen even helped shape the company’s signature style. Because he has anosmia – a limited sense of smell – he focused on texture instead of aroma. That’s why Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is famous for big, satisfying chunks mixed into every scoop. It was the kind of accident that only a creative founder could turn into branding gold.
Building a Brand That Stood for Something
From the very beginning, Cohen and Greenfield wanted their company to do more than make money. They committed to paying fair wages, giving back to local organizations, and speaking publicly on social issues at a time when most corporations stayed carefully neutral.
They believed a company could succeed and improve society at the same time – something far less common in the business world of the 1980s and 1990s.
By the late 1990s, the business was thriving. Then came the next milestone: in 2000, Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever for $326 million. But Cohen didn’t walk away quietly. He and fellow leaders negotiated something nearly unheard of: a commitment to keep the company’s activist mission alive under the new ownership.
Most founders hope their culture survives. Cohen legally baked it into the company’s DNA.
The Fortune – and How Cohen Uses It
Ben Cohen’s net worth has been estimated at around $150 million, thanks largely to the sale of Ben & Jerry’s. But if you’re looking for a traditional billionaire lifestyle, you won’t find it here. Cohen has consistently poured his time and influence into activism – climate issues, criminal justice reform, corporate transparency, political fairness, and more.
Most recently, he launched Ben’s Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis company that directs profits toward social justice groups working on incarceration reform and racial inequality. Even in an industry famous for profit-first thinking, Cohen has turned the model on its head. His view is simple:
Business can serve shareholders without ignoring human beings.
Trouble With Unilever – and the Fight to “Free Ben & Jerry’s”
Although Cohen hasn’t run Ben & Jerry’s for years, he has remained emotionally and publicly connected to the brand. And in recent years, he has not been shy about criticizing Unilever’s stewardship.
Cohen believes the corporate giant has gradually muted the company’s activist voice to protect the bottom line. He has warned that the brand is being pulled away from its founding values – and he’s fighting back. He has even helped launch the #FreeBenAndJerrys campaign, aiming to buy back and restore the brand’s independence.
It’s bold, unconventional, and extremely Ben Cohen.
Taking the Message Global – From Vermont to SXSW London 2026
And now, Cohen is bringing his mission to the world stage. He has been announced as one of the key speakers at SXSW London 2026, a new European edition of the famed innovation and cultural festival. He is expected to speak about corporate responsibility, creative business models, and how a company can grow without losing its soul.
It’s a fitting platform. Cohen is no longer just the ice-cream guy. He’s become something rarer: a founder determined to prove that scaling up doesn’t have to mean watering down your beliefs.
Why Ben Cohen Still Matters – Especially to Modern CEOs
Cohen’s journey resonates today more than ever. Business leaders are under pressure to be profitable, ethical, socially aware, environmentally responsible, and connected to communities – all at the same time. Ben & Jerry’s was doing that long before ESG existed as a corporate acronym.
And while many companies still treat activism as brand decoration, Cohen embraced it as foundational. For him, social impact wasn’t a marketing message – it was the business model.
Whether or not he succeeds in reclaiming Ben & Jerry’s, his legacy already proves something important:
You don’t have to separate purpose from profit. You just have to decide which one leads the way.
Ben Cohen: Quick Questions, Straight Answers
Does Ben Cohen still own Ben & Jerry’s?
No. The company was sold to Unilever in 2000, though Cohen continues to advocate for its original mission.
Who was CEO of Ben & Jerry’s before the sale?
Ben and Jerry were running the company before handing operations to corporate leadership, and eventually Unilever.
Does the company support LGBTQ+ rights?
Yes. Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of supporting LGBTQ+ equality and marriage rights.
When did Ben Cohen start Ben & Jerry’s?
The company opened its first store in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont.
