In 2022, a billionaire gave away his $3 billion company to fight climate change.
On September 14, 2022, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor apparel company Patagonia, announced that he and his family were transferring 100 percent of the company's stock to two newly created entities. The Patagonia Purpose Trust received all voting stock, two percent of the total. The Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis, received the remaining 98 percent of nonvoting stock, valued at roughly $3 billion.1
Chouinard, who founded Patagonia in 1973, had considered other options. Selling the company risked abandoning its values. Taking it public would have subjected it to short-term shareholder pressure. "There were no good options available," Chouinard wrote in his public letter. "So, we created our own."2
Under the new structure, every dollar of profit not reinvested in the business is distributed as a dividend to the Holdfast Collective for environmental work. Patagonia projected annual dividends of roughly $100 million.3
The transfer used a steward ownership model. The Chouinard family retained no financial interest in the company but continued to guide the Purpose Trust, which elects and oversees Patagonia's board. Ryan Gellert remained CEO. No leadership changes accompanied the announcement.4
The structure drew both praise and criticism. Some observers noted that the transfer of nonvoting stock to a 501(c)(4) organization meant no gift taxes were owed on the $3 billion transfer, a legal feature that generated scrutiny.5 Patagonia's roughly 88 percent use of recycled or renewable materials and its status as a certified B Corporation predated the ownership change by years.