Ben & Jerry's Board Chair Anuradha Mittal Departs Amid Governance Changes at Magnum Ice Cream Company
On 16 December 2025, Anuradha Mittal, independent-board chair of Ben & Jerry's, left with immediate effect. Additionally, two other long-standing directors, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson, are set to have their terms expire on 31 December.
Ben & Jerry's is owned by Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), which was spun off from Unilever. The demerger positioned TMICC with about 20% of the global ice-cream market.
TMICC has introduced governance changes including nine-year term limits for Ben & Jerry's board members. As part of these changes, Mittal, who is also a trustee of the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, was found through an internal audit to be associated with deficiencies in the Foundation's financial controls and governance. TMICC stated Mittal no longer meets the criteria to serve following these internal investigations.
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, criticized the departures as a renewed attempt by Magnum to silence the brand's social mission. Magnum, however, expressed full support for Ben & Jerry's efforts to enhance board governance.
This development follows a history of high-profile clashes between Ben & Jerry's and its parent company over political and moral issues, including Unilever's 2021 sale of the Israeli business to its licensee after Ben & Jerry's refusal to sell products in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
