The Laundress’s cofounder shares her regrets about selling to Unilever for a reported $100 million

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's former deputy chief of staff was charged with acting as a Chinese agent, there's a racial pay gap for egg donors in the U.S., and the cofounder of the Laundress wants to warn other founders about what can go wrong post-acquisition.

- Bad deal? When Gwen Whiting sold her cleaning brand the Laundress to Unilever in 2019, it was a triumphant moment 17 years into her run as a boot-strapped founder, securing a reported $100 million exit to a giant of the Fortune Global 500.

Almost four years later, her product was recalled and taken off store shelves for nine months. Whiting now considers her decision to sell to Unilever a catastrophic mistake for her brand—and now that her non-disparagement agreement has expired, she wants to talk about it.

Whiting shared her experience with me in a new story for Fortune . She describes building the business on an SBA loan and credit card debt, a Unilever executive approaching her retail store staff about a potential acquisition, sealing the deal—and quickly spotting red flags. Unilever didn't respond to request for comment and Whiting's cofounder, Lindsey Boyd, declined to comment.

Whiting says that Unilever mismanaged the Laundress brand from day one post-sale. Things came to a head when, after Whiting had left the brand, customers began reporting rashes and other skin ailments. Unilever recalled the Laundress's products. (The company now says products produced after July 2023 are safe to use).

You can read more details in my story here . Overall, Whiting wants to warn founders about what can go wrong after an acquisition—and remind founders that, despite pressure to exit, they often know what's best.

“The reality was no one cared as much as I did,” she says. “I know what’s best, and I believed otherwise."

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com