Founders' Ages and Background
Ben Cohen was born on March 18, 1951, making him 73 years old as of the latest public records. Jerry Greenfield was born on March 14, 1951, also 73 years old. The two met in a seventh-grade gym class in Merrick, Long Island, and later opened their first scoop shop in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978. Their ages are verified through public biographies and SEC filings related to the company's ownership changes Forbes founder profile.
Cohen and Greenfield remained active in the company for decades after the sale, but their direct ownership stakes were diluted over time. Today, neither founder holds a controlling interest. Ben Cohen has focused on social activism and philanthropy through the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, while Jerry Greenfield has stayed involved in the ice cream industry and public advocacy. Their current roles are advisory and public-facing rather than operational or ownership-based Ben & Jerry's official site.
Acquisition and Ownership Timeline
Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever in 2000 for about $326 million in a stock deal. Before the Unilever acquisition, the company had already gone public in 1993, listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BENJ. The founders sold a significant portion of their shares during the IPO and the subsequent Unilever transaction. The acquisition made Ben & Jerry's a fully owned subsidiary of a multinational consumer goods conglomerate headquartered in London.
Unilever's ownership of Ben & Jerry's has been a consistent fact in the company's corporate structure for over two decades. The brand operates under Unilever's Ice Cream division, which also manages other frozen dessert brands globally. Unilever's annual reports and SEC filings disclose the brand's financial performance as part of its consolidated results. The acquisition age of the founders is a common query because many consumers assume the company is still independently owned SEC EDGAR filings.
Current Ownership Structure and Parent Company
Today, Ben & Jerry's is wholly owned by Unilever N.V., a Dutch-British multinational. Unilever's shareholders include institutional investors, mutual funds, and individual stakeholders worldwide. The brand is not independently traded and has no separate public listing. Unilever's ownership structure is transparent in its annual integrated report and regulatory filings, which detail segment performance including the Ice Cream division Unilever official site.
The question of how old the owners are shifts from the founders to Unilever's corporate leadership and major shareholders. Unilever's CEO and board members change over time, and the largest institutional shareholders are asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street. These entities hold voting rights and influence over the parent company that owns Ben & Jerry's. The brand's strategic decisions, including sustainability commitments and new product launches, are made within Unilever's global governance framework Forbes ownership analysis.