Patagonia Founder Gives Company Away to Fight the Climate Crisis – Food Tank (2024)

FAQs

Why did the owner of Patagonia give the company away? ›

Outdoor retailer Patagonia has never been shy about its corporate activism. Its founder Yvon Chouinard has now shown that he is willing to put his money where his mouth is, by giving the company away in an effort to fight environmental crises.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, his spouse and two adult children are giving away their ownership in the apparel maker he started some 50 years ago, dedicating all profits from the company to projects and organizations that will protect wild land and biodiversity and fight the climate crisis.

The billionaire founder of the outdoor fashion retailer Patagonia says he has given away his company to a charitable trust. Yvon Chouinard said that under a new ownership structure, any profit not reinvested in running the business would go to fighting climate change.

The non-voting stock—about 98 percent of private Patagonia shares—were donated to a new 501(c)(4) nonprofit called the Holdfast Collective.

Yvon Chouinard, founder of outdoor clothing and gear retailer Patagonia, gave up his billionaire status after giving the company to a trust and a nonprofit in September 2022.

Patagonia is divided between Western Patagonia (Chile) and Eastern Patagonia (Argentina) and several territories are still under dispute and claiming their rights. Mapuche people came from the Chilean Andes and voted to remain in different sides of Patagonia.

Since 1985, Patagonia has pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. We've awarded over $140 million in cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental groups making a difference in their local communities.

We support innovative work that addresses the root causes of the environmental crisis and seeks to protect both the environment and affected communities. We focus on places where we've built connections through outdoor recreation and through our network of retail stores, nationally and internationally.

Yvon Chouinard, who founded the outdoor apparel brand almost 50 years ago, is transferring his family's ownership to a charitable trust, making Earth the sole shareholder and beneficiary of any profits not reinvested back into the business. It's an extraordinary move from the 83-year-old, but not completely unheard of.

First, there's the high quality of the finished products and the craft that has gone into their creation. Then, there's the higher cost of sourcing what are usually recycled materials. There's the fact that Patagonia's employees and suppliers are well looked after and paid a fair price for their service.

Why is Patagonia so successful? ›

Patagonia, a manufacturer of upscale outdoor clothing, is known for its various environmental sustainability efforts. The privately held company has been known to promote used wear and ask consumers to think twice before buying its products.

Patagonia is making “Good” efforts for workers with good policies to audit suppliers in its supply chain. Patagonia received a score of 41-50% in the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index. Some of its supply chain is certified by FLA Workplace Code of Conduct and Fair Trade USA in the final stage of production.

Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard and his family recently announced that they are giving away their outdoor clothing and gear company to help fight the climate crisis. “It's been a half-century since we began our experiment in responsible business.

The Chouinards then donated the other 98 percent of Patagonia, its common shares, to a newly established nonprofit organization called the Holdfast Collective, which will now be the recipient of all the company's profits and use the funds to combat climate change.

The owner of Patagonia has faced backlash after giving his $3 billion company to a climate crisis non-profit organization. Yvon Chouinard, 83, founded the US outdoor clothing retailer in 1973. He announced recently that any profit not reinvested in the company would be used to fight the climate crisis.

But this week, Patagonia announced it will no longer put corporate logos on its products. In its official statement, the company said the policy change is out of concern for the planet, arguing that logos reduce the lifespan of a garment, since people change jobs and it's hard to pass logo'd gear on.

The result, which came into effect in September 2022, involved a perpetual purpose trust taking ownership of 100% of Patagonia's voting stock, and therefore decision-making control; and a 501(c)4 nonprofit taking ownership of 100% of non-voting stock, and therefore owning the vast majority of the financial value of the ...

In September 2022, Patagonia decided that all their profits will go to help stop climate change. They also decided that they will no longer be working with big businesses like Scheels and their clothes will only be found in boutiques and small businesses starting soon.