Public benefit corporation (PBC)
A for-profit company whose charter legally commits it to a specific public benefit purpose alongside profit. The obligation is enforceable in Delaware Chancery Court.
A public benefit corporation is a for-profit legal structure available in Delaware and about 40 other US states. It has all the powers of a normal C-corp — can raise capital, issue stock, be acquired, pay taxes — but its board is legally bound to consider a stated public benefit purpose alongside shareholder value.
The stated purpose is filed in the certificate of incorporation. It's a public document. The obligation isn't a marketing tag or a certification — it's enforceable in the same court that enforces the rest of Delaware corporate law.
PBCs are distinct from both regular C-corps (no mission obligation) and nonprofits (no shareholders, no profits distributed, different tax treatment). They're also distinct from B Corp certification (which is issued by B Lab and any corporate structure can pursue). Some B Corps are PBCs; many aren't. Some PBCs are B Corps; many aren't.
The structural commitment matters most at hard moments: an acquisition offer that would undermine the mission, a board recomposition, a pivot pressure from investors. In a C-corp, shareholders can vote to unwind those commitments; in a PBC, doing so requires amending the charter with elevated voting thresholds, and the board carries fiduciary duty to the public benefit purpose throughout.