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Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company

Yvon Chouinard has forfeited ownership of the company he founded 49 years ago. The profits will now be used to fight climate change.

Click to view the original at nytimes.com

Hasnain says:

I’ve always admired how Patagonia has taken a stand on various issues - but this one is just next level. They have earned my business.

“Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed set of trusts and nonprofit organizations. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

The unusual move comes at a moment of growing scrutiny for billionaires and corporations, whose rhetoric about making the world a better place is often overshadowed by their contributions to the very problems they claim to want to solve.

At the same time, Mr. Chouinard’s relinquishment of the family fortune is in keeping with his longstanding disregard for business norms, and his lifelong love for the environment.”

Posted on 2022-09-14T19:54:34+0000