Patagonia Founder Gives Away the $3 Billion Company: ‘Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder’

Yvon Chouinard attends the Inaugural Tribeca X: A Day of Conversations

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Patagonia has a new owner –– Earth.

Yvon Chouinard – the founder of the well-known outdoor retailer – announced via an open letter on the company’s website that he and his family have given away Patagonia to a non-profit organization and specially developed trust to help combat climate change. Patagonia is worth around $3 billion.

In his message titled “Earth is now our only shareholder,” Chouinard, 83, confessed, “I never wanted to be a businessman.”

Instead, he began his career as a craftsman and created “climbing gear for my friends” before entering the apparel industry with Patagonia.

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He went on to note the company’s mission to help prevent “global warming and ecological destruction” by creating eco-friendly clothing and annually donating 1 percent of its sales. It later earned B Corp certification and garnered California benefit corporation status.

Patagonia has since been “in business to save our home planet.”

Chouinard knew there were few ways to serve this initiative.

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“One option was to sell Patagonia and donate all the money,” he wrote. “But we couldn’t be sure a new owner would maintain our values or keep our team of people around the world employed.”

He added that Patagonia could have also gone public, a move he said would be an inevitable “disaster.”

“Truth be told, there were no good options available. So, we created our own,” he explained, adding, “Instead of “going public,” you could say we’re “going purpose.” Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”

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Now, the all company’s voting stock that was previously owned by his family has been transferred to the newly-formed Patagonia Purpose Trust. The trust will guarantee that the company’s vision and morals –– to run sustainable businesses and give away the profits –– stay a priority, according to the outdoor apparel founder.

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Despite this generous donation, Chouinard, his wife, and his two adult children are not receiving any tax benefits, instead, they will pay roughly $17.5 million in taxes for the gift, according to The New York Times. The family, along with some advisors, will operate the trust going forward.

In addition to that all of the nonvoting stock, which represents 98 percent of the company’s worth, has been handed to the Holdfast Collective, “a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature,” he said.

“The funding will come from Patagonia: Each year, the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis,” Chouinard added.

Though the major change comes 50 years after Patagonia was first launched, its founder proudly said, “and we are just getting started.”

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“If we have any hope of a thriving planet — much less a thriving business — 50 years from now, it is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have. This is another way we’ve found to do our part.”

He concluded by noting that Earth’s “resources” have run out, and now is truly the time to save it.

“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Chouinard told The New York Times. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”