What a chocolate company can tell us about OpenAI’s risk
- Mar 4
- 1 min read
For the closest American analogue consider the Hershey Company — yes, the chocolate company. For more than a century, Hershey has been controlled by a charitable trust in Pennsylvania, grandfathered into tax law, that funds a boarding school for disadvantaged children.
Two decades ago Hershey was swept into state politics in a way that destroyed billions in expected shareholder value. In 2002, the trust announced plans to diversify its assets by selling its controlling stake — a move that would have boosted the stock and delivered a windfall for the school. Shares jumped 25 per cent.
But in the town of Hershey, fears about selling the company sparked outrage. The Pennsylvania attorney-general — then running for governor — sued the trust for violating its charitable mission and won. The sale collapsed and stock gains evaporated.
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