New York, Sept. 15, (dpa/GNA) - The founder of the global outdoor clothing and equipment brand Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, passed control of the company to two charitable foundations set up to funnel the company’s profits to environmental protection on Wednesday.
“We needed to find a way to put more money into fighting the crisis while keeping the company’s values intact,” Chouinard said in a statement posted on the company’s website.
“Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”
Patagonia’s enterprise value is estimated by the New York Times to stand at around $3 billion. Any profits that are not reinvested into the company – about $100 million a year, according to the report – will in future be allotted by the two foundations to fight climate change and support nature conservation.
“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,” Chouinard told the New York Times.
GNA