Patagonia

Patagonia, which has been a private company since it was founded in 1973, has announced plans to allocate all profits that are not re-invested back into the ...

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, who sits on Patagonia’s board, said businesses “can’t continue to adhere to the prevailing economic model” if the climate and nature crises are to be solved and social issued tackled. Chouinard has stated that the decision to go further, creating the Trust and Collective today, was taken to frame Earth as the company’s only shareholder. Those overseeing the Trust will vote to ensure the company actions are aligned with its stated commitments on environmental and social impact.

The founder of the outdoor brand Patagonia has relinquished his ownership in the business and directed its profits to fight climate change.

The company "will keep doing its best to be a great employer." The Patagonia brand, Hayes noted, charges a premium, in part, because of the values it represents. Each year the money we make after reinvesting in the business will be distributed as a dividend to help fight the crisis." We’re making Earth our only shareholder," Chouinard, 83, said in the statement. "The concept of putting this together in a new structure and being experimental and bold is exactly the kind of innovation we need to be trying," Hayes said. In a question-and-answer section appended to Chouinard's letter, the company said Patagonia continues to be a for-profit business as

Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia, said on Wednesday he is giving away the company to a trust that will use its ...

The trust will be overseen by members of the family. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard says he will give his company over to a trust, with future profits being donated to causes fighting climate change.

"Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility." The other option was to become a publicly traded entity. He added, "Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source.

The billionaire founder of the outdoor fashion retailer Patagonia says he has given away his company to a charitable trust. Yvon Chouinard said that under a ...

Mr Chouinard is not the first entrepreneur to give wealth away. Instead, the Chouinard family, which always owned the company, has transferred it to two new entities. But he said both options would have meant giving up control of the business.

Yvon Chouinard has always said Patagonia's mission was to protect nature. In donating his shares to a trust and a nonprofit, he ensures his life's work will ...

The same year, Patagonia [pulled all ads](https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/patagonia-facebook-instagram-advertizing-stop-hate-for-profit) from Facebook and Instagram and continues to boycott them for failing to “take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform.” [Don’t Buy This Jacket](https://www.patagonia.com/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html)” to bring attention to the company’s Common Threads Initiative, which allows consumers to buy or trade in used Patagonia clothing. [for the first time](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2018/10/19/the-energy-202-in-what-may-be-a-first-patagonia-endorses-two-senate-candidates/5bc8b2fb1b326b7c8a8d1a67/), including Sen. Come along for the ride](https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2022-04-28/clean-energy-tour-of-the-american-west-boiling-point) The company also [helped launch](https://www.patagoniaworks.com/press/2018/9/23/vsq7hma2xculhildditq1tkp5sezya) the “Time to Vote” initiative, which resulted in more than 1,000 companies committing to giving their employees enough time to vote on election day. Former CEO Rose Marcario also announced the company would [donate $10 million to climate change groups](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-urgent-gift-planet-rose-marcario/) — the amount of taxes Patagonia didn’t have to pay because of corporate tax breaks during the Trump administration, she said. Two years later, Patagonia began [exclusively using 100% organic cotton](https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/organic-cotton.html) — grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or GMO seeds. In 2018, the company changed its mission statement to something plain and direct: “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet.” In more recent years, its environmental activism has extended directly into the political sphere as well. 1989: Together with REI, the North Face and Kelty, founded the Conservation Alliance, which collects membership dues from companies to distribute to grass-roots environmental organizations. A year before its official founding, he gave desk space to a young activist who fought to protect the Ventura River from a commercial development near the river’s mouth. Chouinard and his family transferred their voting stock to the newly established Patagonia Purpose Trust, which will ensure that Patagonia maintains its commitment to corporate responsibility and donating its profits. The Ventura-based outdoor apparel company was founded on Chouinard’s love of the great outdoors.

Moving forward, Patagonia's profits that are not re-invested into the business will be donated to a group of nonprofit organizations fighting climate ...

Patagonia expects to generate and donate about $100 million annually depending on the health of the business. After informing its employees on Wednesday about this move, the company updated its website to state that "Earth is now our only shareholder." It will be overseen by members of the family and close advisors. Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility. Another path was to take the company public. One option was to sell Patagonia and donate all the money.

Patagonia Chair Charles Conn explains why the company's owners are donating all their equity to climate and conservation efforts.

Companies have responsibilities to their workers, customers, the environment, and yes, their investors. It’s the future of business if we want to build a better world for our children and all other creatures. We are directing all the value created by the company to specific conservation projects and advocacy. Over time, the market will continue to work and responsible purpose-led companies will attract more investment, better employees, and deeper customer loyalty. Great companies are loved and respected for their values and commitments to their communities in addition to what they make, not for the creation of shareholder wealth. A few years ago, we changed our mission to something both simple and hard: We’re in business to save our home planet. Leading institutions like The Business Roundtable and the World Economic Forum have worked to re-brand shareholder capitalism as stakeholder capitalism, adding responsibilities to workers, the environment, and society. And we transparently report our progress to our communities. Similar efforts by accounting bodies and think tanks seek to develop general accounting standards for measuring companies’ social and environmental impacts that could be required for future company reporting. The flowery language of annual reports is simply incompatible with standard forms of incorporation that require companies to only maximize shareholder returns. The question now is not whether but how far the pendulum has shifted towards responsibility and purpose. For 50 years there has been an impassioned debate about the appropriate aims and responsibilities of companies.

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, has put the entire stake in the company into a trust and nonprofit that will focus on combatting climate change.

(This will stay as part of the business model even under the new ownership changes, Patagonia said in a statement.) In response, he introduced new aluminum chockstones, called Hexentrics and Stoppers, which cannibalized the sales of pitons and led to the further success of his business. Economists of this school believe that without the incentive to maximize shareholder returns, businesses wouldn’t succeed and might lose focus. The Holdfast Collective will distribute an annual dividend from any cash that is not reinvested in Patagonia to fight the environmental crisis, protect undeveloped land around the world, and advocate for causes and candidates in politics. Patagonia’s entire voting stock, which was once held by the Chouinard family and only represents around 2% of overall shares, was placed in a newly established entity known as the Patagonia Purpose Trust. He notes that shareholder capitalism thinks goals other than profit will confuse investors. In his youth, he reportedly lived out of his car and ate damaged cans of cat food. Under the new model, Patagonia will—like a typical business—continue to seek to maximize its profits and compete with other outdoor clothing retailers. He founded Patagonia in 1973 to reflect his idealistic priorities, and was a first mover in sustainability and stakeholder capitalism. “What a disaster that would have been,” wrote Chouinard. Today he can be found in his modest homes in Ventura and Jackson Wyoming, wearing raggedly old clothes, driving a Going public would still allow Chouinard to sell off his shares and donate the proceeds to charity, but that would leave the direction of the company to the public market.

Every year, after reinvesting in the company, the money Patagonia makes will be given to a nonprofit to fight the climate crisis, the company says.

The family will pay about $17.5 million in taxes on the gift to Patagonia Purpose Trust. We’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth." According to [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html), Patagonia sells more than $1 billion in apparel annually. [The New York Times reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html). That leaves the other 98% to the Holdfast Collective, who holds all of the nonvoting stock. "While we’re doing our best to address the environmental crisis, it’s not enough.

Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, is giving his $3 billion company away for a greater cause: fighting climate ...

[recognized Patagonia](https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/us-outdoor-clothing-brand-patagonia-wins-un-champions-earth-award) for its commitment to environmental sustainability and advocacy. The company, which Chouinard founded in 1973, is worth $3 billion, [according to the New York Times.](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html) "Despite its immensity, the Earth's resources are not infinite, and it's clear we've exceeded its limits," Chouinard wrote on Wednesday. As part of those efforts, Patagonia sources eco-friendly clothing materials and annually donates 1% of its total sales to grassroots activists. [net worth](https://www.forbes.com/profile/yvon-chouinard/?list=rtb/&sh=2a3f5d474fb5), as of Thursday morning. He was also a craftsman who made climbing gear and apparel for himself and his friends. In the 1960s, he was a pioneering rock climber in California who lived out of his car and ate damaged cans of cat food he purchased for 5 cents apiece, the Times reported. We needed to find a way to put more money into fighting the crisis while keeping the company's values intact." We can save our planet if we commit to it." "The Patagonia Purpose Trust ... The two entities will ensure that all of Patagonia's profits go toward combating the climate crisis and protecting undeveloped land across the world, the company announced on Wednesday. [expects](https://www.patagoniaworks.com/press/2022/9/14/patagonias-next-chapter-earth-is-now-our-only-shareholdera) to generate and donate roughly $100 million in profits annually, depending on the health of the business, the company said.

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard is giving away his company, valued at $3 billion, and dedicating future profits to fight climate change.

[sea of](https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/kourtney-kardashian-call-patagonias-ceo.html) [corporate](https://www.wired.com/story/fashion-industry-reduce-emissions/) [greenwashing](https://www.thecut.com/2022/08/h-and-m-greenwashing-fashion.html), Patagonia has long been an outlier. “I didn’t want to be a businessman,” Chouinard explained. I don’t drive Lexuses.” (He still reportedly drives Subarus.) Chouinard thought about leaving the company to his children, but they apparently don’t like the billionaire moniker either: “It was important to them that they were not seen as the financial beneficiaries,” Ryan Gellert, Patagonia’s chief executive, told the Times. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.” The family donated the rest of the company to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit that will now receive the company’s profits and use the funds to combat climate change, including the protection of undeveloped lands. “Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Chouinard, 83, told the Times.

Also everything at Twitter is securities fraud, SPAC buyback tax and a Rick's Cabaret insider sale.

PRNewswire/ -- Eastman, maker of Naia™ Renew sustainable fibers and yarns, announces that it has collaborated with Patagonia® to offer a limited run of...

With the purpose of enhancing the quality of life in a material way, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. It's a future-focused fiber made with the next generations in mind — one that doesn't compromise on the quality of the garment or the health of our planet." Naia™ Renew ES is made from a combination of molecularly recycled waste material (40%), recycled cellulose (20%) and renewable wood pulp (40%). Patagonia's Workwear line is a Fair Trade line of apparel made for people who work hard daily to make the planet a better place to live, perform and produce. Founded in 1920, Eastman is a global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. Furthermore, Eastman has partnered with Canopy to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to sustainable forestry management. "Patagonia has always been a company that chooses its fibers carefully and responsibly," said Ruth Farrell, Eastman textiles general manager. Eastman has aligned its entire forestry supply chain with Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) sourcing standards, including controlled wood procedures. The remaining 40% recycled content* comes from Eastman's cutting-edge molecular recycling technology that breaks down hard-to-recycle waste materials like plastic packaging and old carpet into fundamental building blocks to produce the acetic acid used to make cellulose acetate yarn and fiber. Eastman holds FSC® (C140711) and PEFC™ Chain of Custody certifications, and all its suppliers hold internationally recognized forestry certifications as well. This innovation is made possible through Eastman's continuous efforts to collaborate with eco-conscious partners throughout the value chain. Named for its enhanced sustainability, Naia™ Renew ES is made with 60% recycled content.

Outdoor clothing label Patagonia's billionaire owner, Yvon Chouinard, has given away the company to a non-profit and environmental trust.

Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility." "Another path was to take the company public. He said option was to sell Patagonia and donate all the money.

Patagonia's billionaire founder, Yvon Chouinard, has given his company away to the Earth. Instead of selling Patagonia and donating the profit to charity, ...

Instead, he will pay about $17.5 million in taxes on the gift of shares to the trust. Unlike the Holdfast Collective, the trust will have decision-making power over the company. He claims that will amount to about $100 million per year, depending on how well the company performs.

The founder of outdoor gear company Patagonia says the company is transferring all of its voting shares into a trust dedicated to fighting the environmental ...

Patagonia makes outdoor clothing, gear and accessories for everything from skiing to climbing and camping. Brian Mittendorf, a professor of accounting at Ohio State University who focuses on nonprofit organizations and their financial statements, said the new Patagonia structure is similar to the one Paul Newman created for his salad dressing company, Newman's Own. “He's working with the tools that he's got. “The very wealthy are also faced with the fact that their net worths are growing faster than they can conceive of giving it away. “Business owners are often faced with fraught decisions on the future of their company when it’s time to sell,” said Nicolette, who also co-hosts the “Giving Done Right” podcast. All of its nonvoting stock will go to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit “dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature.”

Patagonia's founder has given away the company to fight climate change. Other brands that are taking measures to help the climate crisis like Madewell, ...

[mission page](https://unitedbyblue.com/pages/our-story). [wool](https://www.allbirds.com/pages/our-materials-wool) in order to reduce its carbon footprint. [Reviewed](https://www.reviewed.com/) have all your shopping needs covered. [donation to the National Forest Foundation](https://www.madewell.com/do-well/causes.html). In the meantime, Allbirds is funding initiatives that [offset carbon emissions](https://www.allbirds.com/pages/carbon-offset-projects) such as working with a cattle grazing project in Argentina to discover more about regenerative wool. The brand has also [partnered with Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™](https://www.madewell.com/inspo-do-well-denim-recycling-landing.html) program to turn old jeans into housing insulation. Since the beginning of the partnership, Columbia has [built 24 water towers](https://www.asicentral.com/news/newsletters/promogram/july-2022/columbia-sportswear-reports-progress-on-esg-initiatives/) across the globe. United by Blue has been dedicated to protecting the environment since its creation, with the company organizing its first community cleanup the same week that it sold its very first t-shirt. [Planet Water](https://www.columbia.com/planet_water_foundation.html?icpa=hp&icid=navbn&icsa=all&prid=read-more_planet_water_foundation&crid=text) to bring clean water to disadvantaged communities worldwide. [Renewed](https://www.thenorthfacerenewed.com/?_gl=1*1rwk15f*_ga*MTUwMjUyMTQ4My4xNjYzMjU1MjYx*_ga_950L7P08N5*MTY2MzI3MDU5OC4yLjEuMTY2MzI3MDYwNS41My4wLjA.&_ga=2.55728363.1919306932.1663255261-1502521483.1663255261&_gac=1.237773492.1663270603.EAIaIQobChMI3Y_H5MWX-gIV9_3jBx2_vwz4EAAYASAAEgJaD_D_BwE) line, you can buy clothing and gear that's been repaired and reconditioned for new use. The company is reducing its use of traditional materials in favor of sustainable alternatives, such as packaging that is made of recycled materials. [statement](https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social) posted on Patagonia's website.

In a modern and sustainable take on Willy Wonka, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard (aged 83) is giving away his fortune. But this story doesn't involve any ...

He chose to transfer all of the company’s voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a move that allows Chouinard and the family to ensure that their goals of conservation and a sustainable business are effectively being implemented. Patagonia and its owners have a long history of trying to operate in an ethical and environmentally conscious manner. The desire to stay on brand comes at a cost though, as the family is paying $17.5 million in taxes to set up the trust. A survey from [Edelman Trust Barometer](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-davos-meeting-trust/capitalism-seen-doing-more-harm-than-good-in-global-survey-idUSKBN1ZJ0CW) in 2020 found that most people felt capitalism does more harm than good. [like bandits](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/01/richest-one-percent-gained-trillions-in-wealth-2021.html#:~:text=The%20top%201%25%20owned%20a,from%2030.5%25%20to%2030.2%25.). [the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html) that they’ve decided to flip the switch on capitalism by shirking personal gain. In 2021, the top 1% were able to take advantage of a soaring stock market and make Chouinard isn’t here to disagree with the masses. Chouinard announced Wednesday that he is redirecting his profits to organizations focused on trying to save the environment, specifically funneling his funds to the newly established Patagonia Purpose Trust and Holdfast Collective. As a result, more people have been calling for greater taxes on billionaires, and the government has slowly started to respond as the House Democrats [recently introduced](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/29/house-democrats-push-for-bidens-billionaire-minimum-income-tax.html) President Biden’s Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act. In a modern and sustainable take on Willy Wonka, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard (aged 83) is giving away his fortune. I know it can sound flippant, but they really embody this notion that every billionaire is a policy failure.”

Yvon Chouinard has gained a reputation as a radical all his life. He invented rigid crampons and perfected a drooped-pick ice axe that hurtled ice climbing ...

In Ventura for the announcement, there was thunderous applause from the mostly employee crowd there, and exclamations like “Gobsmacked!” got heard for the rest of the day. Yesterday I happened to hear the relevant numbers: 71 percent of the company’s business then was selling pitons (most of the rest was probably carabiners). (And honestly, this never-before-seen arrangement feels just a tad vague—even to its perpetrators—in exactly how it will roll out. So it was that, by 1972 I happened to be working at the Chouinard Equipment Company’s tin shed in Ventura, and I had a front-row seat to watch him bet the company on fomenting another revolution, that of clean climbing. He invented rigid crampons and perfected a drooped-pick ice axe that hurtled ice climbing out of its classic days of cutting endless steps (“stairways to the stars”) to clawing up vertical ice. I got swept along in its early days and am proud to say that for a few years in the early 1970s Yvon and I had more first ascents on California ice than anyone.

"Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we'll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the...

These purpose trusts are likely to continue to grow in popularity over time," he added. “As Patagonia’s new structure has shown, there is a very real opportunity that exists for trusts in general, and leading trusts jurisdictions, to help families cement their agreed purpose and values through the use of purpose trusts to own and administer assets. The trust will be overseen by members of the family.

Yvon Chouinard's decision to give Patagonia away marks the latest major action in the company's long record of environmental and political activism.

The lawsuit and the effort to move the trade show “were steps that companies usually don’t take,” said Ewing, who now directs the Rural Climate Partnership. “This is the largest elimination of protected land in American history.” “The Patagonia response, when I said, ‘I think I’m going to leave my middle management job in mail order and start this nonprofit because I think we can protect a lot of Nevada,’ was ‘That is so fantastic. Patagonia’s reputation isn’t “a conceived of strategy for the brand,” Sterling said, but rather it reflects Chouinard’s values. It’s our cost of doing business.” For years, the company has provided optional nonviolent civil disobedience trainings to employees. Giving Patagonia away marks the boldest act of environmental activism yet, after years of unconventional crusades ranging from a campaign against genetic engineering to This policy of encouraging dissent is not confined to environmental issues. [posted a stark message to its website](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/05/the-president-stole-your-land-patagonia-rei-blast-trump-on-national-monument-rollbacks/?itid=lk_inline_manual_46): “The President Stole Your Land.” “1% of sales is a hard number,” Chouinard said in the 2012 interview. In the statement, Chouinard called himself “a lover of wild rivers.” “That’s why our company has been involved in trying to take out obsolete and damaging dams since 1993,” he said. Despite being “a relatively small company in the scheme of things,” Patagonia, he said, “has this tremendous power to change — well, I mean, I hate to be bragging, but change society and to change larger companies and lead by example.”

Founder Yvon Chouinard structured the transfer of his firm in a way that keeps control within the family and avoids taxes.

If there were more Yvon Chouinards, humans might be doing a better job of battling global warming. Such sentiments are doing the rounds on social media ...

As part of the deal, Chouinard and his family have transferred all stock with voting rights to the Patagonia Purpose Trust. As a result, all company profit will go to a non-profit entity which will spend it to fight climate change. But behind it is a more responsible approach to managing a business than forcing ESG issues into unneeded siloes. [New York Times](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2022%2F09%2F14%2Fclimate%2Fpatagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html&data=05%7C01%7CThomas.Shum%40thomsonreuters.com%7Cca957e5b0b794b02ef9e08da97857df9%7C62ccb8646a1a4b5d8e1c397dec1a8258%7C0%7C0%7C637988896862882635%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0soxmY0eahtxllxcIxdEw1qqfhTOKk57QNzUJvcQHYg%3D&reserved=0). Chouinard, for example, wants to steer more money towards protecting the planet. [gaining](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breakingviews.com%2Fconsidered-view%2Fesg-acronym-is-due-for-a-spin-off-of-its-initials%2F&data=05%7C01%7CThomas.Shum%40thomsonreuters.com%7C12ba5feb1f94448ec17e08da97855fa6%7C62ccb8646a1a4b5d8e1c397dec1a8258%7C0%7C0%7C637988896342764716%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=7rGTOGnZMQMotgzwKe3Vsm%2BhNlA6YXAEGAdHStxluv8%3D&reserved=0) [traction](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.economist.com%2Fleaders%2F2022%2F07%2F21%2Fesg-should-be-boiled-down-to-one-simple-measure-emissions&data=05%7C01%7CThomas.Shum%40thomsonreuters.com%7Cca957e5b0b794b02ef9e08da97857df9%7C62ccb8646a1a4b5d8e1c397dec1a8258%7C0%7C0%7C637988896862882635%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Te8EliFCg8qAY83FBgJ%2BmOstFIGBZHhsqT9%2FLhV3ncc%3D&reserved=0). Forcing companies to pick between the three concepts would also create unnecessary dilemmas. In practice, all three should form an integral part of a fund manager’s overall analysis. Sustainable Investment Forum, sit in funds run by managers from BlackRock [(BLK.N)](https://www.reuters.com/companies/BLK.N) to AllianceBernstein that claim to include ESG considerations in their investment decisions. Yet he could have built a bigger war chest more quickly by selling the company. [revealed](https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patagonia.com%2Fownership%2F&data=05%7C01%7CThomas.Shum%40thomsonreuters.com%7Cca957e5b0b794b02ef9e08da97857df9%7C62ccb8646a1a4b5d8e1c397dec1a8258%7C0%7C0%7C637988896862882635%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=oFsaLV8F8tAQXVWGAD3cBopoY%2F8rZNSFRYYG0du0pR4%3D&reserved=0) on Wednesday that he has ceded control of his outdoor clothing firm. MELBOURNE, Sept 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - If there were more Yvon Chouinards, humans might be doing a better job of battling global warming.

Yvon Chouinard joins a list of billionaires who have pledged large shares of their wealth to philanthropic ends.

However, they represent a small fraction of what Forbes magazine estimates to be the approximately 2,700 billionaires in the world. Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility.” The company has long been environmentally active. “But we couldn’t be sure a new owner would maintain our values or keep our team of people around the world employed,” he said. It was in California that he became deeply involved in rock climbing and eventually, alpine climbing. The family will also “guide the philanthropic work performed by the Holdfast Collective,” according to a release issued by Patagonia.

Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia, announced on Wednesday that he, his wife, and their children had decided ...

joked a [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/15/patagonia-give-away-billionaire-satire/) opinion writer. [The Cut](https://www.thecut.com/2022/09/patagonia-founder-gives-away-company.html). "My feed is full of the Patagonia news. A day after the announcement, a note of sobriety entered the discourse. It is one of the largest (Patagonia makes profits of approximately $100 million a year) and most unusual philanthropic gifts (despite its new mission, Patagonia will remain a for-profit company) in recent memory. The response to Chouinard's announcement was almost universally ecstatic.

Yvon Chouinard has given away the ownership of Patagonia, using the little-used Business Purpose Trust to do so. So, will it work?

The reason why a Business Purpose Trust may be a challenge to operate is that an operating company has to make money now and into the future, requiring that is continually evolve as the marketplace changes to be profitable and, in the Patagonia case, to fulfill a level of satisfaction for its employees, customers and its community. Perpetual Purpose Trusts have, in the past, worked well when the purpose is specific, such as care of a pet, or tied to tangible or real property, such as artwork, family homesteads and, as mentioned, cemeteries. The governance of the Purpose Trust is, at a minimum, a Board of Trustees to manage the trust and the appointment of a person or committee that can enforce the purpose of the trust, usually called the Trust Protector. The term of the purpose trust can be for a specific term of years or, in some states, in perpetuity. Purpose trusts are not new, they are specifically referred to in section 409 of the Uniform Trust Act, which is adopted in most states. [NYT](https://www.forbes.com/companies/new-york-times) [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare) on Thursday, September 15, 2022 that Yvon Chouinard, the founder of clothing maker Patagonia, has transferred the voting stock (representing 2% of the value of the company) of this $3 billion company to a purpose trust.

Patagonia's founder rejects his billionaire status, but he's still saving $700 million in taxes with a legal loophole ... Yvon Chouinard is an American ...

A 501(c)(4) is similar to the better-known 501(c)(3) nonprofit. [B Corp](https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/certification), meaning it is a social enterprise that creates value for non-shareholders, such as the environment. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.” Specifically, the announcement said the Trust will ensure “there is never deviation from the intent of the founder.” “There was never an ask from anyone in the Chouinard family that we create a structure to avoid taxes.” Profits not reinvested into the company each year will be distributed to the Holdfast Collective toward these causes. According to Patagonia’s announcement, Earth is now the company’s “only shareholder.” And the Holdfast Collective has no plans to immediately sell Patagonia. Chouinard’s announcement indicated that Holdfast Collective will use its annual profits toward “fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature”—a cause that is near and dear to his heart. So the family didn’t personally get a tax write-off for the transfer. But they will able to retain some control over how the business is run. And if the Holdfast Collective sells the shares, it also won’t be on the hook for capital gains. But now, because 98% of it has been transferred to the newly established Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit, they don’t have to pay what