We recently received word that Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, had declared that he would be donating his entire company. The company is now valued at more than $3 billion, and manages to generate close to $100 million in profits a year.
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In short, Yvon Chouinard will transfer Patagonia to a series of trusts, as well as a non-profit organization. This donation will work as follows: Chouinard and his family will be transferring all voting shares in the company, which is equivalent to 2% of the capital, to the Patagonia Purpose Trust. This trust will be managed by family members and a few close advisors who will be able to ensure that Patagonia “continue operating as a socially responsible business” and distributing its profits annually to causes environmental.
Now, the common shares, which concern the remaining 98% of the capital, will be donated to an organization that was recently created, called the Holdfast Collective. This NGO will be receiving all of Patagonia's profits and should use the resources mainly to fight climate change and also finance social activists.
Chouinard and his entire family did not receive any type of tax benefit from this transaction. They will have to pay around $17.5 million in taxes on account of transferring their business to the trust.
“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn't end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Yvon Chouinard told The New York Times. “We will donate as much money as possible to people who are actively working to save the world. planet." This decision taken by the businessman makes them the largest private donors in the United States United. “This family is a huge outlier when you consider that most billionaires give away just a fraction of their wealth every years”, highlighted the founder of the website Inside Philanthropy, which has followed all the efforts made related to philanthropy in the world.
Still according to him, the founder of Patagonia stands out even when compared with the signatories of the Giving Pledge, the commitment of wealthy families to be donating a part of their fortune even while alive. “Even these families don't give that much, and they tend to get richer every year,” he added.
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