By Daniel Thomas
Business reporter for the British Broadcasting Corp.
The founder of the outdoor fashion retailer has given his company to a charity.
Yvon Chouinard said that under a new ownership structure, any profit not reinvested in running the business would go to fight climate change.
Depending on the health of the company, he claimed this will amount to around $100 billion a year.
Over 10 countries, Patagonia sells hiking and other outdoor clothing.
The company has an estimated revenue of 1.5 billion and a net worth of over a billion dollars.
“Despite its immensity, the Earth’s resources are not infinite, and it’s clear we’ve exceeded its limits,” he said.
Instead of taking value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are protecting it.
The firm was giving 1% of its profits to grassroots activists. In an open letter to his customers, the apparently reluctant businessman said that he wanted to do more.
He had considered selling the company, donating the money to charity or taking the company public.
Giving up control of the business was one of the options. He said that public companies are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term responsibility.
The company has been transferred to two new entities by the Chouinard family. The family controls the company’s controlling shareholder but will only own 2% of the total stock.
The Holdfast Collective is a US charity dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis which now owns 98% of the company.
The money we make after investing in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis.
A number of entrepreneurs have given away their wealth. The boss of the Hut Group, which owns a range of online beauty and nutrition brands, donated £100 million to a charity last year after becoming a billionaire.
Matthew Moulding said he couldn’t comprehend the numbers and was trying to make a difference.
Bill Gates made a $20 billion donation to his philanthropic fund and vowed to “drop off” the world’s rich list this year.
The tech boss, who is thought to be worth $118 billion, pledged to give his wealth away to charity in 2010, but his net worth has more than doubled.