What is Patagonia and why does the owner give away the company valued at 3,000 million?

Yes, there is something that defines the Patagonia clothing brand is its strong relationship and commitment to the environment. For this reason, it is not surprising that it is recognized as one of the companies with the “greatest reputation” in criteria such as quality, trust, citizenship and, above all, for its “ethics”. That’s right, the brand created by Yvon Chouinard extends its “values” to the fullest, where the purpose is no longer just about generating profit.

Following this line, and after 50 years at the helm, the founder of Patagonia is transferring ownership of the company to two entities that will help combat the climate crisis. In this way, Yvon Chouinard creates a trust and a non-profit organization that will own 100% of the shares of the clothing company.

According to a posting on the brand’s website, Chouinard and his family are transferring their entire ownership stake to two newly created entities so that Patagonia’s profits are used solely to combat the climate crisis.

donation operation

The same founder, tells how this donation will work: “100% of the shares with voting rights of the company are transferred to the ‘Patagonia Purpose Trust’, created to protect the values ​​of the company; and 100% of The non-voting shares had been given to the ‘Holdfast Collective’, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating the environmental crisis and defending nature.”

For this, the financing will come from the sales of . “Each year, the money we earn after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help combat the crisis,” Chouinard added in the statement. The structure, according to the statement, was designed to prevent the sale of the company or its going public, which could have meant a change in its values.

A different company, but one that has never stopped doing business

Chouinard and Patagonia have long been pioneers in environmental activism and employee benefits. In its nearly 50 years of business, the Ventura, California-based company is known for its extensive employee benefits, including on-site childcare and afternoons off on good surf days.

In the 1980s, the company began donating 1% of its sales to environmental groups, a program formalized in 2001 as “Plan 1% for the Planet.” The program has involved $140 million in donations for the preservation and restoration of the natural environment, according to the company.

Patagonia was one of the first companies to become a so-called b-Corp, undergoing certification of compliance with certain environmental and social standards, and recently changed its mission as a company to “We are in business to save our planet.”

Its founder, a millionaire who does not like to be reminded

Chouinard, the famously eccentric businessman who started his business making metal climbing pitons (or spikes to stick into crevices while climbing) and who lived in his van at climbing destinations for many years, was horrified to see himself as a billionaire, as he told the New York Times.

“I came out in Forbes magazine as a billionaire, which really pissed me off,” he said. “I don’t have a billion dollars in the bank. I don’t drive Lexus.”

The truth is that the Chouinard family is at the top of all the lists, also in philanthropy, donating the vast majority of the money they have generated up to now and, from this moment on, giving up their own company to the end that they have always claimed to defend.