In 2000, the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever, which agreed at the time to allow Ben & Jerry’s to continue operating independently, pursuing social causes, and speaking out on political issues. However, headlines recently announced to the world that Jerry Greenfield was resigning from the company he started, because he felt that was no longer the case.
While many called the decision to sell to Unilever “selling out,” the publicly traded company had little choice at the time after an attempt to take the company private was outbid by Unilever. As one expert told The New York Times after the sale, “We think it’s horrible that a company has no choice but to sell to the highest bidder or get sued.”
If Ben & Jerry’s had been established as a public benefit corporation, the creators may have been able to make a different choice at the time.
What is a public benefit corporation?
A public benefit corporation (PBC), also referred to simply as a benefit corporation, is not to be confused with a B Corp. While a B Corp is a certification that a company can receive that shows it “meets high standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency,” a PBC is a legal status recognized in many states that codifies similar standards into the company’s incorporation documents.
A PBC designation means that the company has legally established that it will balance shareholder value with a stated public benefit mission in all of its business activities. This allows the corporation and its directors more flexibility in engaging in activities that may not solely benefit the bottom line, so long as those activities align with its public mission. It must also provide regular reports on the corporation’s progress toward those stated goals. In those ways, a PBC is similar to a non-profit organization. However, a PBC is still designated as a for-profit business and receives no special tax benefits.
PBCs are relatively new
The creation of the PBC is likely to have been sparked by “entrepreneurs who feared entering a market that seemingly punished rather than rewarded directors who considered non-financial interests” when making business decisions. The first formation of one was in Maryland after the state passed legislation in 2010 establishing the business structure. Many other states have followed suit.
Since the PBC structure is still in its infancy, the true impact it will have on society has yet to be determined. Some critics believe this is another way for corporations to “greenwash” their business activities and is a “thin disguise for ordinary corporate profit-seeking behavior.”
Adopting and dropping the status
Last August, Elon Musk sued OpenAI for breach of contract, claiming the company was abandoning its original nonprofit mission of creating AI for “the benefit of humanity.” He also sought to block OpenAI from converting into a for-profit company.
Meanwhile, it was only a few months earlier that Musk’s own AI company, xAI, quietly terminated the PBC status it was founded with in 2023. CNBC reported that the status change was so secretive that Musk’s own lawyer appeared to be unaware of the decision: he had filed an amended complaint in May 2025 that described xAI as “a public benefit corporation founded by Musk to help accelerate scientific research via AI.”
Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI was ultimately dropped, but after pushback from civic leaders and investors, OpenAI announced in May that it would be transitioning its for-profit LLC into a PBC. The PBC would also remain under the control of the nonprofit company and would follow the same mission.
