Yvon Chouinard, the billionaire founder of the American outdoor brand Patagonia, has given away the brand to a charitable trust in an attempt to combat growing environmental concerns.
Chouinard founded the brand in 1973 by pure accident because he never had the intention of getting into entrepreneurship.
From the young age of 14, Chouinard was an avid rock climber and environmentalist. As years went by, he felt the need to design metal spikes (pitons) that would not harm the rocks when climbing, and so he did.
This love for rock climbing and the environment soon turned into a business.
And today, Patagonia makes over 1.5 billion USD a year in sales, and Chouinard himself is valued at 1.2 billion USD.
However, despite the immense success, Chouinard has maintained his love for the environment. A real trailblazer, Patagonia is one of the few brands that has always tried to be sustainable and environmentally conscious.
Chouinard has declared that, with this decision, conditional on the profits the brand makes, around 100 million USD a year will go into donations for climate change causes.
Patagonia’s website now proudly displays,
“ Earth is now our only shareholder.”
At a time when most brands are occupied with greenwashing their consumers and not making any real efforts to contribute toward closing the loop. Chouinard has attempted to solve the most crucial problem facing mankind today without losing control of his company.
Patagonia vs. climate change
In the past too, Patagonia has made impressive efforts without caring about the brand’s profits in fighting climate change and educating consumers about sustainability.
Their famous advertising campaign, “Don’t buy this jacket,” focused on telling consumers about the environmental consequences of overconsumption. The company wants its products to last a lifetime.
Chouinard was never fond of becoming a businessman and has reportedly said, “Despite its immensity, the Earth’s resources are not infinite, and it’s clear we’ve exceeded their limits.” Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth, we are using the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source. “
