Ice Cream Social

SEVEN

The Gulf Was So Wide

When Perry Odak became the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, the media crowed that the peaceniks had hired a leader from a company that made guns. They also said that Perry was a down-to-earth guy from a Hudson Valley farm who had worked his way through Cornell by milking cows. They got the facts right, but they buried the lead.

Perry was a turnaround specialist. He was the man Fred Miller had suggested in the days following Bob Holland’s resignation, and he did what he was hired to do. Starting in January 1997, he executed a plan that worked brilliantly for shareholders. The company’s financial condition began improving shortly after he arrived. He brought focus and skillful planning to every aspect of the operation, and he gave ...