While his company is valued at $3 billion according to the New York Times, the founder of Patagonia, which specializes in outdoor clothing, has decided to transfer 100% of his shares to a trust in charge of ensuring that his values are respected, and to an association fighting the environmental crisis and the protection of nature, to which the profits will be donated.
The owner of Patagonia announced Wednesday, Sept. 14, that he will donate his entire company to fight the devastation of the planet's climate. "It's been half a century since we began our journey as a responsible company," says Yvon Chouinard. If we want to have any hope of seeing our planet thriving in 50 years, we all have to do everything we can with the resources we have. As the business leader I never wanted to be, I'm doing my part. Instead of extracting value from nature and turning it into wealth, we are using the wealth created by Patagonia to protect the source. We make the Earth our only shareholder. I am very serious about saving this planet. And taking Patagonia public would have been "a disaster," he predicts: "Even companies listed with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gains at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility."
A committed company from the start
The founder has worked with his wife and two children, as well as teams of corporate lawyers, to create a structure that will allow Patagonia to continue to operate as a for-profit business with profits going to benefit environmental efforts. Chouinard's family has donated 2 percent of all shares and decision-making power to a trust, which will oversee the company's mission and values. The remaining 98 percent will go to a nonprofit organization called Holdfast Collective, which will "use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities as quickly as possible," according to the statement.
Each year, the money Patagonia earns after reinvesting in the company will be distributed to the nonprofit to help fight the environmental crisis. The structure, according to the release, was designed to avoid selling the company or going public, which could have meant a change in its values.
Founded nearly 50 years ago, Patagonia quickly became committed to protecting nature, from scrupulously choosing its raw materials to donating 1 percent of its sales each year to environmental NGOs. The management of the company will not change: Ryan Gellert will remain CEO and the Chouinard family will continue to sit on the brand's board of directors. The Chouinard family will also lead the company's majority shareholder, the Patagonia Purpose Trust, in electing and overseeing Patagonia's board of directors, and in guiding the philanthropic work conducted by the Holdfast Collective.
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