Patagonia's Founder-Owner Yves Chouinard and Family Give Away the Company, Making Planet Earth the Shareholder

Patagonia founder-owner Yves Chouinard, the Chouinard family and the Patagonia team have been, for years, notable world leaders in #sustainability, ‘walking the talk’ with ambition married with action.

Over the last 24 hours, we have seen even more bold #leadership coming from the company’s quarters, with Yves Chouinard and family making crystal clear that Patagonia means what is says, and says what it means: the company has fundamentally changed its structure to enshrine its #purpose and #values and cement its legacy in fighting the #climate crisis.

All voting stock (c 2% of the total) is now controlled by the ‘Patagonia Purpose Trust.’ The remaining c 98% will be under the ‘Holdfast Collective.’ Put best by Chouinard in describing the shift: “We’re making Earth our only shareholder.”

To the Chouinard family, Ryan Gellert, the Patagonia leadership team and all #employees globally, bravissimo, and thank you. The action you have taken is something to behold, and one hopes it may encourage leaders from multinational or local #businesses, large and small alike, to consider or reconsider their purpose, values and legacies.

Business as a force for good.