Patagonia’s billionaire founder gives away retailer to protect planet
The billionaire boss behind fashion retailer Patagonia has donated the brand to a charitable trust that tackles climate change.
Yvon Chouinard, who founded the outdoor apparel brand in 1973, said profit that was not reinvested into the firm’s operations would be used to help the environment.
Donations to environmental causes will rack up at around £87m a year, although this depends on the company’s sales, Chouinard said.
“Despite its immensity, the Earth’s resources are not infinite, and it’s clear we’ve exceeded its limits,” Chouinard explained.
“Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source.”
Chouinard’s net worth is estimated at around $1.2bn, with Patagonia’s sales coming in at around $1.5bn this year.
All voting shares, representing around two per cent of the stock, will be given away to The Patagonia Purpose Trust.
The rest will go to the non-profit organisation The Holdfast Collective.
Tulipshare founder and CEO Antoine Argouges said consumers were keen to seen actions like this from more firms.
“We need more companies to step up and realise that looking after planet, people, as well as profit is the future of business. Too many organisations, and their large shareholders, ignore this.”