Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s
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Ben & Jerry's Homemade IncAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTMagnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s Anuradha Mittal told she is no longer eligible to serve on the ice cream maker’s boardMagnum inherited a long-running dispute between Unilever and the Ben & Jerry’s board over its powers to define the brand’s direction © Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesMagnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on x (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on facebook (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on linkedin (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on x (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on facebook (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on linkedin (opens in a new window)Magnum moves to oust chair of Ben & Jerry’s on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Madeleine Speed in LondonPublishedDecember 15 2025Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The Magnum Ice Cream Company has moved to oust the chair of Ben & Jerry’s board over alleged conflicts of interest, as the ice cream business spun out of Unilever intensifies its grip on one of its key subsidiaries, according to people familiar with the matter.The development escalates a battle between newly listed Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s independent board and its co-founder Ben Cohen, over how the brand communicates its “social mission”. Magnum informed Ben & Jerry’s chair Anuradha Mittal on Monday that she was no longer eligible to serve on the board with immediate effect, after an external investigation and an audit of the brand’s charitable arm, of which she is a trustee, uncovered conflicts of interest, according to people briefed on the matter. They declined to outline the alleged conflicts.Magnum announced last month that Mittal “no longer met the criteria” to serve on Ben & Jerry’s board, without giving further details. When it was spun off a week ago, Magnum inherited a long-running dispute between Unilever and the Ben & Jerry’s board over its powers to define the brand’s direction.The board has accused Unilever of blocking its call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and preventing it from supporting Palestinian refugees. The board was established in 2000, when Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield sold the business to Unilever, to protect the brand’s social mission and integrity.The deal allowed Unilever to choose the chief executive of Ben and Jerry’s, but only a minority of the board’s directors.Unilever controlled the Ben & Jerry’s brand, which Magnum now does following the demerger from its FTSE 100 parent.Peter ter Kulve, Magnum’s chief executive, cracked down on governance at Ben and Jerry’s ahead of the spin off and engaged in a war of words with Cohen, who still works at the brand. Ter Kulve said Cohen should hand over to the next generation. On Monday, Ben & Jerry’s announced governance changes at its board, including a nine-year term limit for directors. The brand said two directors, which it did not name, were told they would not be eligible for re-election next year because their tenure has exceeded the term limit. “In total, three directors have been notified of their ineligibility to serve on the board,” Ben & Jerry’s said, without identifying them.Mittal, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson are the only members of the Ben & Jerry’s board who have served for more than nine years.The other changes outlined by Ben & Jerry’s include setting a board meeting schedule with “protocols on engagement”, and reaffirming its obligation to comply with the parent company’s business code. Jochanan Senf, the Ben & Jerry’s chief executive who was appointed by Unilever, said the changes would strengthen governance and increase transparency at the brand. “These improvements matter because they will support us in our journey to become even more impactful and to drive progressive change for years to come,” he added. Magnum said: “Ben & Jerry’s is a proud, flourishing and integral part of our business and we fully support the steps they are taking to enhance governance of the board to ensure continuation of its social mission for years to come.”Cohen said: “Forcing three key members out from the independent board is yet another step in Magnum’s systematic effort to dismantle Ben & Jerry’s from the inside and silence the very social mission that gives the brand its value.”He added it was a “blatant power grab designed to strip the board of the legal authority and independence it was guaranteed” at the time Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s.A spokesperson for the Ben & Jerry’s board did not respond to a request for comment about Mittal, Dodson and Henderson.Shahmeer Halepota, legal counsel to the board, said in a statement last month after Magnum stated Mittal no longer met the criteria to serve that the allegations were “nothing more than a co-ordinated campaign spewing extreme personal slander”. 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