Valued at 3 billion dollars and with net profits of 100 million per year, Patagonia is one of the most important clothing brands among those considered premium and benchmarks among businesses with environmental awareness.
In addition to equipment and clothing focused on outdoor sports, a few years ago it created a sub-brand, Patagonia Provisions, dedicated to the food category with a sustainable profile.
The news published this Thursday is that the founder of the American brand, Yvon Chouinard, announced the decision to donate your business to the fight against climate change.
How will do? It will transfer the property to a trust and an NGO that will use all the profits it generates to care for the environment.
Patagonia will continue to operate as a private for-profit company, but the Chouinard family, which until now had control, no longer owns the firm.
As explained in a statement published on the website of Patagonia, the shares with voting rights (2% of the total) will be transferred Patagonia Purpose Trustwhile the shares without voting rights (98% of the total) will go to Holdfast Collectivea non-profit organization dedicated to fighting for the environment and the defense of nature.
The trust will be supervised by family members.
The company projects it will pay an annual dividend of close to $100 million, depending on the health of the business.
The owner of Patagonia delivers his business
Chouinard, who is passionate about adventure sports – especially climbing – and who founded the business in the 1970s, said the decision was made to help as much as possible to prevent a further climate crisis and keep the company’s values intact. .
“Every year, the money that is earned after reinvesting in the business is going to be distributed as dividends to help combat the environmental crisis,” Chouinard, 83, said.
In addition, it was learned that the current CEO, Ryan Gellert, will continue to lead the company and Patagonia, as a firm, will continue to maintain the policy of donating 1 percent of its sales to environmental organizations.
Chouinard is well known in the business world for breaking established rules and structures: he calls for avoiding consumerism, bad-mouthing corporations, and taking his workers surfing, skiing, and fly-fishing.
In a letter to employees, the tycoon explained why he made the decision: “One option was to sell the firm and donate the money. But how was he going to be sure that a new owner was going to preserve our values or keep our team of people?
The other way was to go public: “What a disaster! Even well-meaning public companies are under too much pressure to generate short-term profits at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility. To tell the truth, there were no good options available. So we did this.”
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