Walt Freese

Walt Freese has served as CEO of Ben & Jerry's in Burlington, Vermont since November 2004.  In true Ben & Jerry's fashion, the title stands for Chief Euphoria Officer, reflecting the fun, irreverent nature of the company and its leader.  Walt is responsible for the Ben & Jerry's business globally.  Prior to becoming CEO, he was the company's Chief Anti-Marketing Officer.

In his eight years with the company, Walt claims to have eaten his own weight in Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey and Phish Food.   In the process, he has more than doubled company sales, increased profitability to well above the industry average and burnished the brand's reputation for one-of-a-kind products, grassroots guerilla marketing and innovative social mission initiatives.  Under Walt's leadership, Ben & Jerry's has continued to build its leadership in progressive values globally, taking bold stances on controversial issues that have fulfilled one of the business's core missions.  Walt's proudest accomplishment at Ben & Jerry's has been demonstrating what the company's founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, said all along .... "You can lead with your values and make money too!"  He credits the company's success to an amazing team of people dedicated to fulfilling the company's 3-Part Mission Statement.

Prior to joining Ben & Jerry's, Walt served as President of Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, Colorado and has held senior management roles with Kraft/General Foods and Nestle.