Seth Goldman (businessman)

Goldman was born in 1965 and was raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts.[1] He is Jewish.[2] His father is the economist Marshall Goldman, and his mother, Merle Goldman, is a professor of Chinese history at Boston University.[1][3] Goldman graduated from Noble and Greenough School in 1983.[4]

Goldman attended Harvard University, where he studied government affairs[1] and was a student athlete, competing in cross country running and track and field.[5] During his freshman year, he lived in Straus Hall, where Peter Chiarelli was one of his roommates.[6] After graduating in 1987, he taught English for a year in Russia and at a Beijing university.[7] Afterwards, he worked on Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign in 1988. He then served for three years as a deputy press secretary for Dukakis' running mate, United States Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas.[1][7] According to the Boston Herald, he exited the political arena and enrolled in the Yale School of Management after determining that "private enterprise could promote the public good".[1]

Goldman was a volunteer for Americorps.[8] He interned for the United States Department of State.[7]

Goldman married Julie Farkas in 1990, whom he met at a cooperative school in Moscow where they both taught English.[3] He has three sons.[9] Goldman and his family are vegetarians.[9]

After graduating from the Yale School of Management in 1995, he worked at the mutual fund company Calvert Investments, which concentrates on socially conscious investments.[10] He served as a vice president for the company.[7]

Goldman co-founded Honest Tea at the end of January 1998. He first conceived of a low-calorie beverage company as an MBA student at the Yale School of Management in 1995.[8] After doing a case study about Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi for a competitive strategies class,[7] he discovered "many high-calorie, sugary drinks and many no-calorie bottled waters on the market" but few beverages in the middle.[8] He pondered concocting a low-calorie, flavorful beverage, but did not execute the idea until three years later on a trip to New York City. He trotted around Central Park with a friend and ate together at a restaurant afterwards. They looked at the menu and found none of the drinks pleasing. Goldman emailed Barry Nalebuff, his former Yale professor, asking him if the low-calorie beverage idea still was sound. Nalebuff mentored Goldman and together they decided to create a new tea. Nalebuff provided most of the $500,000 in seed funding, while Goldman contributed a smaller amount after fundraising from his friends and family.[8] Nalebuff came up with the name "Honest Tea", which sounds like "honesty".[11] Goldman built an office in the guest bedroom of his home, which he shared with his wife and three small children.[7]

Coca-Cola paid $43 million for 40% of Honest Tea with the choice of purchasing the entire company in 2011. Several organic aficionados disapproved of the sale to Coca-Cola because Goldman was required to purchase several dozen contracts from independent distributors that aided in growing Honest Tea.[10]

In 2013, Goldman coauthored a graphic book with his Honest Tea co-founder Barry Nalebuff, detailing their experiences founding and running the company.[12] Jason Abbruzzese reviewed the book for the Financial Times, writing, "The narrative is at its best when balancing the personalities of the founders: Goldman's socially conscious side and Nalebuff's economic expertise."[13]

Goldman stepped down from his role as CEO of Honest Tea in 2015 and became the executive chair of Beyond Meat. He retained ownership of no more than 10% of Honest Tea. Goldman kept the same salary as he moved to a part-time position at Honest Tea in which he would assist Coca-Cola's Venture and Emerging Brands Unit with connecting with customers. He made the change in part because his youngest son graduated from high school.[9] According to a 2019 article in The Washington Post, Goldman continued to do work for Honest Tea.[14]

After his wife reviewed a piece discussing Beyond Meat, a company that created meat substitutes, in 2012 Goldman invested in the company.[14] He became executive chairman of Beyond Meat in 2015 and worked part-time for Honest Tea in Bethesda, Maryland and part-time for Beyond Meat in Manhattan Beach, California.[9] When Beyond Meat held its initial public offering on May 2, 2019, Goldman owned 2% of its shares.[14]

• Seth Goldman on Twitter