Capitalism is the most powerful economic system created. Yet, in its current form of shareholder primacy, it is failing to meet the aspirations of billions and the needs of a warming planet. We stand at the crossroads of crisis and also extraordinary opportunity: capitalism is at a tipping point. In this conversation will breakdown the myths of stakeholder governance (commonly known as: benefit corporation), and get into the realities faced by many due to the devastating impacts of board rooms that only protect one bottom line at all costs. The time is right for this conversation because we’ve come far. In 2013 we told the story at SOCAP of Plum Organics being acquired by Campbell Soup Company that helped pave the way for selling up, without selling out. In the last 7 months, we have seen more purpose-driven companies with stakeholder governance in place go public than we have in the last 15 years. The test has been proven. Lemonade, with a $2B valuation and with $480 million-plus in capital raised, filed its S1 as a benefit corporation. It was the most successful IPO of 2020 to date. Vital Farms followed with its IPO, and on the first day of trading went up 60%, with stock selling at $35 from its initial price of $22. Vital Farms raised $205 million, offering 9.3 million shares. As of early September, the company’s market cap was $1.38 billion. Let’s break this all down. Coursera recently followed suit.
