How Purpose Trusts are Revolutionizing Business Ownership with Natalie Reitman-White (Purpose Owned) and Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s)

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The Road to Why

The Northern Trust Institute

28 episodes

2 months ago

From start-up entrepreneurs to multi-generational family business owners, most founders are driven to succeed for reasons well beyond making money. Whether it’s a passion for reshaping their industry, building a family legacy or advancing the causes they care most about — or, in many cases, all of the above — exploring the larger “why” of their life’s work offers insights into how successful leaders operate and what is really important to them. On The Road to Why, host Eric Czepyha, Director of Business Services at Northern Trust, speaks with business owners, entrepreneurs and visionaries about business, family, wealth and legacy and shares advice and life lessons from those who have found success in ways expected and unexpected.

All content for The Road to Why is the property of The Northern Trust Institute and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Entrepreneurship

Business,

Investing

How Purpose Trusts are Revolutionizing Business Ownership with Natalie Reitman-White (Purpose Owned) and Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s)

The Road to Why

41 minutes

1 year ago

How Purpose Trusts are Revolutionizing Business Ownership with Natalie Reitman-White (Purpose Owned) and Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s)

What if your business could be owned by its own purpose?

In today’s episode, our guests discuss the emerging trend of business owners transferring ownership of their business to a purpose trust. Many business owners have begun to explore this alternative ownership structure as a means of preserving the values of their business, and ensuring that their business is not sold, long after the business owner is no longer around.

Natalie Reitman-White is the principal at Purpose Owned, a consultancy for ownership succession planning. In 2018, Natalie pioneered one of the first purpose trust ownership transitions in the U.S. with Organically Grown Company.

Ari Weinzweig is co-founder of Zingerman's Community of Businesses, which consists of various food-related companies including Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2022, with the help of Natalie, Ari and his business partner transitioned ownership of the Zingerman’s brand to a purpose trust.

In the episode we will learn:

(4:21) – What was the road to Zingerman’s like for Ari?
(7:08) – How did Natalie find her way to Organically Grown?
(10:02) – What interested Natalie and Ari in Perpetual Purpose Trusts?
(17:73) – Why was preserving the legacy of Zingerman’s important to Ari?
(21:32) – How can a business owner generate liquidity when they transfer their business to a Perpetual Purpose Trust?
(26:50) – Can Perpetual Purpose Trusts adapt to changing circumstances?
(29:24) – Who can sit on a trust committee?
(31:49) – What is the process and cost of transferring to a Perpetual Purpose Trust structure like?
(34:20) – Where can business owners start if they want to adopt a Perpetual Purpose Trust structure?
(36:51) – What is the ‘why’ that drives Natalie and Ari?