benefit corporation

noun

US law
: a for-profit corporation whose purpose is to provide a benefit to society (as improving the environment or good health) in addition to making a profit for shareholders

called also B corporation

Examples of benefit corporation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The company is planning one of the biggest IPOs in history as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that requires management to balance broader public interests with profitability goals. — Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026 Anthropic and OpenAI are each structured as a public benefit corporation, a designation that requires the companies to pursue not just profit but a social good. — ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026 Steward ownership, employee ownership, and benefit corporations are working alternatives operating in thousands of companies around the world and address wealth concentration at its source. — Christopher Marquis, Time, 16 Oct. 2026 Raising the red flag are researchers at White Circle, a public benefit corporation backed by senior leaders and researchers from Anthropic, DeepMind, Hugging Face, and OpenAI. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for benefit corporation

Word History

First Known Use

2009, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of benefit corporation was in 2009

Rhymes for benefit corporation

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Browse Nearby Words

benefit
benefit corporation
benefit of clergy
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Cite this Entry

“Benefit corporation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benefit%20corporation. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Legal Definition

benefit corporation

see also:
corporation
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