In a letter posted on the company’s website, Chouinard wrote that ownership of the company, which was founded in 1973 and is valued at approximately $3 billion, has been transferred to a trust created to protect the company’s values and mission as and non-profit organization. “Earth is now our sole shareholder,” he said. “100% of the company’s voting stock is transferred to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, created to protect the company’s values. and 100% of the non-voting shares had been given to the Holdfast Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature.” In addition, profits not reinvested back into the business will be distributed by Patagonia as a dividend to the Holdfast Collective to help address climate change, according to a press release. The company predicts it will pay an annual dividend of about $100 million — an amount that could change depending on the health of the business. Yvon Chouinard talked about preserving public land in a Patagonia ad released on August 20, 2017. (Video: Patagonia/YouTube) “Half a century has passed since we began our experiment in responsible business,” Chouinard, 83, told the publication. “If we have any hope for a thriving planet 50 years from now, it requires all of us to do the best we can with the resources we have. As the business leader I never wanted to be, I’m doing my part. Instead of extracting value from nature and turning it into wealth, we use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source.” “I am very serious about saving this planet,” he added. The decision, first reported by The New York Times, reflects Chouinard’s crazy approach to connecting his business with conservation and political activism during his nearly five-decade career. The company has criticized President Donald Trump and members of his administration for scaling back public land protections, and even sued Trump over his move to cut Utah’s Ears National Monument by 85 percent. Several of Chouinard’s allies said his move reflected his long-standing approach to environmentalism. “It’s kind of crazy to say it doesn’t surprise me,” said Josh Ewing, who worked with Patagonia to expand Bears Ears while heading the nonprofit Friends of Cedar Mesa. “I had the opportunity to appreciate the simply unique and unprecedented leadership that the Chouinards, as well as Patagonia staff, have put into conservation and climate leadership,” said Ewing, who now directs the Rural Climate Partnership. In 2021, Patagonia announced it would no longer sell its merchandise at a popular Wyoming ski resort after one of the owners held a fundraiser with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and other Trump-supporting Republicans. Patagonia, REI blowing up national monuments twists; “The president stole your land” The company has also pursued more traditional forms of activism. In addition to making products with materials that cause less harm to the environment, Patagonia has for years donated 1 percent of its sales to largely grassroots nonprofits and will continue to do so. Patagonia funded a documentary film in 2014 called “DamNation,” which aimed to mobilize support for dam removal in order to revive wild fish populations. I won’t let evil win: Patagonia’s billionaire owner says he plans to sue Trump Chouinard has also supported groups that work directly on elections, such as the League of Conservation Voters. LCV President Gene Karpinski said the retail mogul has supported the group’s efforts to register and engage young voters and voters of color. Chouinard “was a model for building a sustainable business and now it’s a model for sustainable supply,” Karpinski said. “From the beginning, his company had a vision to be best in class as a sustainable company and now he is ensuring that this is the way forward.” In Wednesday’s letter, Chouinard explained that selling Patagonia or going public were both wrong choices. While the company could have been sold and all profits given away, there was no guarantee that a new owner would maintain the values of the business or ensure that all of its employees would be kept busy. And taking the company public, Chouinard wrote, would be a “disaster.” “Even well-intentioned public companies are under too much pressure to generate short-term profit at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility,” he wrote. The choice to give away Patagonia is the latest step in the company’s long experiment in responsible business, Chouinard wrote. “If we have any hope of a thriving planet — much less a thriving business — 50 years from now, it will take all of us doing the best we can with the resources we have,” he wrote. “This is another way we’ve found to do our part.” Ryan Gellert, Patagonia’s CEO, said in a statement that the Chouinard family “challenged” him and a few others two years ago to develop a new structure for the company with two central goals: “They wanted us to both protect the cause of the business. and to immediately and permanently release more funding to combat the environmental crisis,” he said. “We believe this new structure delivers on both, and we hope it will inspire a new way of doing business that puts people and the planet first.” Under the new agreement, the Chouinard family will lead the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the philanthropic work carried out by the Holdfast Collective, according to the press release. The company’s leadership will also not change. Gellert will continue to serve as the company’s CEO, while the Chouinard family remains on Patagonia’s board of directors. To mark the occasion, Patagonia tweeted: “We’re closed today to celebrate this new plan to save our one and only home. We’ll be back online tomorrow.” On Wednesday night, staff attended a “party for the planet” at the company’s campus in Ventura, California, a spokesman said. Patagonia board members praised the transfer of ownership. “Companies that create the next model of capitalism through deep commitment to purpose will attract more investment, better employees and deeper customer loyalty,” said Charles Conn, chairman of the board. “They are the future of business if we are to build a better world and that future starts with what Yvon is doing now.” I couldn’t be more proud to serve on @patagonia’s board of directors. 💚 From now on, the Earth is our only shareholder — ALL profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to “save our planet”. https://t.co/SLTTTbao4y —Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson 🐙 (@ayanaeliza) September 14, 2022 Some retail industry experts said the move could have an impact beyond just one company. Chouinard “just set a new bar for retailers,” Paula Rosenblum, managing director of retail consultancy RSR, wrote in an email. “There is no greenwashing here. He put his money where his mouth was.” Sign up for the latest news on climate change, energy and the environment, delivered every Thursday
