Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, has long been an atypical founder.

Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization. They were created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — some $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

I love Chouinard's comment at the end of the article.

“I feel a big relief that I’ve put my life in order,” Mr. Chouinard said. “For us, this was the ideal solution.”

It will be interesting to see how this works out. I suspect it will work very well. Patagonia has always been driven by its values. This structure will allow it to continue to do that.