Ethan Brown
| |
|---|---|
Brown in 2021
| |
| Born | Ethan Walden Brown 1971 (age 52–53) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
|
| Occupation(s) | Businessperson, environmentalist |
| Known for | CEO and founder of Beyond Meat |
| Spouse | Tracy Brown |
| Children | 2 |
Ethan Walden Brown (born 1971) is an American executive who is the founder, president and CEO of Beyond Meat.[1] Before founding Beyond Meat, Brown worked on alternative energy and electricity grid restructuring at the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices before joining fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems.[2]
Brown grew up in and near Washington, D.C.,[3] and also spent time during his childhood on his family's farm in Maryland.[4] He is a graduate of George School (Newtown, PA).
Brown holds an undergraduate degree from Connecticut College, a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, a school founded by his father Dr. Peter G. Brown, and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School in 2008.[5]
Brown served as Vice Chairman of the Board at the National Hydrogen Association and Secretary of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council.[6]
In 2009, Brown visited a research center at the University of Missouri that was looking for additional uses for soybeans, a major Missouri resource. There, he met researchers Fu-hung Hsieh and Harold Huff,[7] who were working on technology to replicate the texture of meat using plant proteins. Brown acquired the technology license for the process,[8] and founded Beyond Meat in 2009.[9] On May 2, 2019, Brown rang the opening bell at Nasdaq when Beyond Meat went public under the symbol BYND.[10] Brown is also a director of The PLANeT Partnership, Beyond Meat's joint venture with PepsiCo.[11][12]
In 2014, Brown was listed on Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business 1000.[13] In 2017, Brown was named an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow.[14] In 2018, Brown was selected as one of the UNEP's Champions of the Earth in the category of science and innovation for his "work towards reducing our dependence on animal-based foods."[15] In 2019, Brown was listed on Bloomberg Media's 50 Most Influential ranking.[16] Brown was also named that year to Well+Good's "2020 Changemakers" list.[17]
Brown is married to Tracy Brown,[18] has two children,[8] and lives in Southern California.[3] He became a vegetarian in high school[19] and is now vegan.[20] Brown is also an environmentalist.[21]
