Patagonia founder gives company away to fight climate crisis

Founder of Patagonia Yvon Chouinard, has announced that he will be giving his business away to an environmental trust and non-profit, in order to fight the current climate crisis.

Yvon said:

“I never wanted to be a businessman. I started as a craftsman, making climbing gear for my friends and myself, then got into apparel. As we began to witness the extent of global warming and ecological destruction, and our own contribution to it, Patagonia committed to using our company to change the way business was done. If we could do the right thing while making enough to pay the bills, we could influence customers and other businesses, and maybe change the system along the way.”

Patagonia, a client of Cranberry Panda’s for over a year now, will continue to operate as a ‘for-profit’ organisation, but cash will go entirely to environmentalism.

This choice came about after toying with different ideas of how to make the biggest positive impact to the environmental crisis of today, and after the realisation that, “there were no good options available. So, we created our own.”

Chouinard originally thought about selling Patagonia, but he was unsure whether the new owner would maintain company values or avoid redundancies.

The next option was to take the company public, which would have been a huge mistake as “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.”

Instead of going public, Patagonia will be “going purpose” by using profit to fund and protect nature.

Patagonia has always prioritised environmental activism and employee benefits during their 50 years of operating, which we have learned from working with them.

To name a few, employees can benefit from on-site nurseries and afternoons off on good surf days.

Their generous business timeline says a lot:

• In the 80’s, the company began donating 1% of sales to environmental groups
• In 2001, a programme called ‘For the Planet scheme’ resulted in $140m in donations for preservation and restoration of the natural environment
• After meeting certain environmental and social standards, Patagonia became one of the earliest companies to become a b-Corp.
• In 2018, Patagonia mentioned that they would donate all money gained from President Trump's tax cuts to environmental causes.
• More recently, their mission statement was changed - “We’re in business to save our home planet." 

A whopping 98% of company stock will go to non-profit organisation Holdfast Collective that will use profits for environmental action each year, whilst the sporting company continues to produce goods.

We are not surprised by Yvon Chouinard’s selfless financial decisions, as when he was listed as a billionaire in Forbes magazine, he responded, "I don't have $1 billion in the bank. I don't drive Lexuses,” insinuating that he feels uncomfortable with the idea of personal wealth.

A final statement on their website reads, “earth is now our only shareholder” which well and truly puts the companies’ standpoint into perspective.