![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776210312_287_.jpeg\")
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Ben and Jerry\u2019s co-founder Ben Cohen speaks during an interview about his Free the Cone Day campaign, asking supporters to help restore the company\u2019s independence and protect its social mission on Free Cone Day in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Amanda Swinhart)<\/p>\n
Ben and Jerry\u2019s co-founder Ben Cohen speaks during an interview about his Free the Cone Day campaign, asking supporters to help restore the company\u2019s independence and protect its social mission on Free Cone Day in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Amanda Swinhart)<\/p>\n
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Ben & Jerry\u2019s other half, Jerry Greenfield,<\/a> resigned from the company in September 2025, calling it a \u201cpainful\u201d decision after nearly 50 years with the brand and bemoaning in his resignation letter the disappearance of its independence. Cohen is still a paid employee of the company, but said he has no authority or responsibilities.<\/p>\n Cohen believes Ben & Jerry\u2019s is now worth between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. He wouldn\u2019t name any of the investors who are interested in buying the brand, but said they\u2019re eager to talk to Magnum, which is based in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n However, Magnum said Tuesday that Ben & Jerry\u2019s is not for sale.<\/p>\n \u201cBen & Jerry\u2019s is a proud and thriving part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company,\u201d Magnum said in a statement. \u201cWe remain fully committed to the Ben & Jerry\u2019s model and its three-part mission \u2014 product, economic and social.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s protest was Cohen\u2019s latest action in a years-long campaign to make Ben & Jerry\u2019s an independent company again. Here\u2019s the scoop on Ben & Jerry\u2019s evolution:<\/p>\n Unilever acquisition<\/p>\n Unilever, a London conglomerate that also owns Dove soap and Hellmann\u2019s mayonnaise, acquired Ben & Jerry\u2019s in 2000 for $326 million, or the equivalent of $625 million today. At the time, Cohen and his co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, said the partnership would help the progressive Vermont-based<\/a> ice cream company expand its social mission globally. As part of the deal, Unilever agreed that Ben & Jerry\u2019s independent board would be free to pursue its social mission, including longstanding support for causes like racial justice, campaign finance reform and fair trade.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bettina Guevara holds her free serving of ice cream outside the Ben and Jerry\u2019s scoop shop on Free Cone Day in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Amanda Swinhart)<\/p>\n Bettina Guevara holds her free serving of ice cream outside the Ben and Jerry\u2019s scoop shop on Free Cone Day in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Amanda Swinhart)<\/p>\n Add AP News on Google <\/p>\n Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Controversy erupts<\/p>\n In 2021, Ben & Jerry\u2019s announced it would stop serving Israeli settlements<\/a> in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem. The move was condemned by Israel, and Unilever distanced itself from it. The following year, Unilever sold its Israeli business<\/a> to a local company that said it would sell Ben & Jerry\u2019s throughout Israel and the West Bank. Ben & Jerry\u2019s sued Unilever<\/a> in 2024, accusing it of silencing its statements in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war. Ben & Jerry\u2019s said Unilever also blocked social media posts that were critical of President Donald Trump and threatened to dismantle Ben & Jerry\u2019s independent board.<\/p>\n Magnum takes over<\/p>\n Unilever announced the spinoff of its ice cream business<\/a> \u2014 including Ben & Jerry\u2019s \u2014 in March 2024. It was part of a larger strategy<\/a> at Unilever, which wants to focus more on health and wellness products and less on food. Magnum, which became an independent company in July 2025, is one of the world\u2019s largest ice cream companies. It also owns brands like Breyers and Cornetto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) \u2014 As Ben & Jerry\u2019s celebrated its annual Free Cone Day on Tuesday, one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[17235,16272,255948,28,12,793,803,255949,149,3775,20999,795,27885,27076,30848,7855],"class_list":{"0":"post-584596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-activism","9":"tag-amsterdam","10":"tag-ben-cohen","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-jerry-greenfield","16":"tag-lifestyle","17":"tag-protests-and-demonstrations","18":"tag-retail-and-wholesale","19":"tag-u-s-news","20":"tag-unilever-plc","21":"tag-vermont","22":"tag-vt-state-wire","23":"tag-west-bank"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bettina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776210313_617_.jpeg\")
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