OpenAI’s Makeover Shines a Light on Companies Doubling as Do-Gooders
Public benefit corporations give executives significant leeway to balance the goals of shareholders, other stakeholders and what they perceive to be the greater good. Plus, Hengan’s CFO on why Chinese consumers want higher-quality diapers.
OpenAI last month said it incorporated as a public benefit corporation, stoking new interest in this type of structure.
Photo credit: Olivier Morin/Getty Images
Welcome to CFO Briefing, a newsletter dedicated to corporate finance and what leaders need to know. This week, I take a closer look at why public benefit corporations are in the spotlight again. I also chat with the CFO of Hengan, a Chinese manufacturer of diapers and wet wipes that’s targeting the country’s growing middle class.
OpenAI recently undertook a complex restructuring, paving the way for a potential IPO by turning its for-profit arm — which previously operated under a “capped-profit” model that placed a limit on financial returns — into an entity with no such restrictions. It did this by recasting the subsidiary as a “public benefit corporation,” shining a light on a structure that has gained adherents in recent years while raising questions along the way.