Customers place an order at a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop on March 19, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Unilever said on Tuesday that it has proposed its soon-to-be listed ice cream business will be led by Peter ter Kulve, whom the Ben & Jerry’s board has accused in lawsuits of “eye-popping” ignorance and muzzling its social purpose policies.
“Approval of the full board of The Magnum Ice Cream Company by the Unilever board is anticipated in July 2025,” a Unilever spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Ter Kulve, who is currently the ice cream business’ president, would become CEO of the Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) that will list in Amsterdam by the end of the year.
TMICC is home to six of the world’s top 10 ice cream brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Cornetto and Wall’s, and generated turnover of 8.3 billion euros ($9.59 billion) in 2024.
The news deals a blow to the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s, which has in recent years been publicly at odds with ter Kulve and its parent company.
A representative for the board did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Ben & Jerry’s did not immediately respond for comment.