Patagonia Founder Gives Away Company to Tackle Climate Crisis
One week after Patagonia founder Yvon Chouniard announced he was giving away the outdoor apparel company he founded in 1973 to help solve the climate crisis, the man he tasked with finding a way to divest his family from the company鈥擟EO Ryan Gellert鈥攕poke at 17吃瓜在线 about the unprecedented move.听
Gellert, the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics鈥 2022 distinguished lecturer, told the crowd of mostly students on September 21 that Chouniard, 83, wanted to give away his money while he was still alive to see its impact. Even still, the first time Chouniard brought it up, 鈥淚 tried to sidestep it and ignore it because I couldn鈥檛 imagine Patagonia without the Chouinards involved,鈥 Gellert said.听听
鈥淭he next time I was over to the house. He said, 鈥楬ow鈥檚 that going?鈥 I said, 鈥業鈥檝e been busy with some other things.鈥 He said, 鈥業 swear to God, Ryan, if you don鈥檛 get on this, I鈥檓 going to the grocery store, I鈥檓 getting one of those Forbes lists of billionaires, and I鈥檓 going to start cold-calling people.鈥 I said, 鈥業 got it, message received.鈥欌澨
Patagonia has long been a model of socially-conscious capitalism. The company instituted a 1 percent 鈥渆arth tax鈥 in 1985, donating the proceeds to grassroots environmental causes. The new structure means that every dollar not reinvested in the company will go to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and a new nonprofit, Holdfast Collective鈥攚hich is projected to receive $100 million annually鈥攖o protect nature and biodiversity. The trust owns the voting stock of the company and will ensure the company鈥檚 values are upheld.听
Patagonian CEO Ryan Gellert meets with 17吃瓜在线 students at a roundtable prior to his event as the Sine Institute's distinguished lecturer of 2022.
鈥淎t the end of the day, there鈥檚 two things we want to accomplish: protecting the integrity of Patagonia as a model of a different way of [doing] business and putting a lot more money [into fighting the] environmental crisis right now,鈥 Gellert said. 鈥淭hat led us to ultimately create something I don鈥檛 think has been done before in US business.鈥澨