On February 1, 2017, Laureate Education became the first benefit corporation to complete an Initial Public Offering. This means that mainstream investors have finally gotten the message: traditional corporate governance, which elevates shareholder interests over all others, is not tenable in our increasingly interdependent economy. Governance that recognizes the interests of all stakeholders generates more value for everyone over the long term. That’s why investors are recognizing that businesses must treat customers, employees and communities as partners, rather than as instruments to be managed for maximum short-term financial gain.

Shareholders are among the stakeholders whose interests the directors of a benefit corporation are required to balance. Benefit corporations are required to provide shareholders with more information than a traditional corporation through an annual benefit report, and shareholders of benefit corporations can vote to terminate benefit corporation status (usually by a 2/3 supermajority vote).

Any size company can incorporate or re-incorporate as a benefit corporation. Over 1,200 companies have incorporated nationally as benefit corporations, most in the last few years and all since October 2010. Some well-known benefit corporations include Patagonia, Method, and King Arthur Flour.

Benefit corporations are attractive to a large and growing market for socially responsible and impact investments. Multiple benefit corporations including Ello, Dancing Deer Baking Co. and Cotopaxi have already raised capital both from social impact investors and from more traditional funds. There is over $3.7 Trillion in socially responsible investing assets under professional management today; the benefit corporation structure reduces due diligence time for those investors to find businesses that meet their investment goals.