Episode
From Oil Wells to Oak Trees: Ben Dell's Half-Billion-Dollar Pivot to Carbon Offsetting
- Podcast
- Business for Good Podcast
- Published
- Dec 1, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1850
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Summary
What if planting trees could be not just good for the planet, but also a profitable business? In this episode, I'm talking with Ben Dell, the founder and CEO of Chestnut Carbon — a company that's raised nearly $400 million, including $250 million of that in 2025, to turn farmland back into thriving native forests across the United States. And he's already forging major carbon removal deals with the likes of Microsoft and Mercedes F1. Ben's journey is a fascinating one: he began his career in oil and gas private equity, helping fossil-fuel companies optimize their operations. But during the pandemic, he had what you might call a carbon epiphany. Seeing how few trustworthy carbon-removal projects existed, he decided to create his own — one that would make measurable, verifiable, and permanent carbon storage not just possible, but investable. In our conversation, Ben explains why carbon is a commodity, and how to prove you've really stored it. He talks about how Chestnut buys up marginal cattle-grazed land and restores it into biodiverse forests — with already more than 17 million trees planted. And he goes over why he proudly calls Chestnut "conservation for profit" — a business model that needs no subsidies, just land, good science, and a lot of patience. Ben also talks about the challenges of scaling a nature-based startup, the importance of grit over glamour, and why he believes restoring forests can be one of America's most investable climate solutions. So if you've ever wondered how capitalism might actually reverse deforestation — not cause it — this episode will give you a hopeful, grounded look at what that future could look like. Discussed in this episode Ben is a managing partner at Kimmeridge . Business Insider profile and a Wall Street Journal profile on Ben'…