Billionaire retailer Yvon Chouinard donates fashion company Patagonia to charity. Know why

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia is giving away his company to a charity organization under a new ownership structure.

The billionaire founder Chouinard explained that under the new system, any profit that comes will not be reinvested in the company but would go towards fighting climate change.

Yvon Chouinard is the founder of the outdoor fashion company Patagonia. According to reports, the amount that will go to fighting climate change will be around $100bn ($86bn). This amount can increase or decrease depending upon the health and future of the company.

Yvon Chouinard is giving away Patagonia to fight climate control.

• Patagonia is a successful fashion brand that sells hiking clothes and other outdoor sporting gear in around 10 countries.
• The company was founded in 1973, and the estimated revenue was $1.5bn this year.
• Yvon Chouinard's net worth is around $1,2bn.
•Before this, Patagonia was donating 1% of their annual profits to sustainable communities and grassroots activists.
• But recently, in an open letter addressed to the public, Yvon Chouinard said he wishes to do more and work more towards sustaining the community.
• He said he was initially planning on selling the company and donating everything to charity or taking the company public. But that would have resulted in losing control of the business and pushing the pressure elsewhere.
• He said how even the public companies have so much pressure.

FAQs

What is the new ownership structure of Patagonia?
• After Yvon Chouinard decided not to sell off the company, the Chouinard family, who owns the company, has decided to go for a different alternative.

• The company has been transferred to two separate entities now.

• Chouinard explains that The Patagonia Purpose Trust will remain the controlling shareholders but own only 2% of the total share.

•The other 98% of the stock will be under Holdfast Collective, a US charity dedicated to saving the environment. This 98% of the stock will be the non-voting share.

• Chouinard further explained that every year the profit left after reinvesting in the company will go to different organisations fighting climate control.