“Say what you have to say, not what you ought.” — Henry David Thoreau
Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard, has never shied away from saying whatever the hell he’s felt compelled to say — or do.
And yet, Yvon still managed to surprise many of us recently with his decision to give away his company, valued at $3 billion.
Of course, if any of us were surprised by the announcement, it can’t be because such a move is out of character for him, but rather, because it is essentially without precedent.
I find the move to be incredibly inspiring, and laudably contrarian. I regard it as a profound display of personal and familial principles, and I believe its impact will be significant and will reverberate for decades.
And so I am pleased to add to our Open Mic series this explanation by Yvon himself on what led him and his family to this decision.
For answers to a number of related Frequently Asked Questions, scroll to the bottom of this page at patagonia.com.
For more details about this transfer of ownership, see this New York Times’ article.
According to this link,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cu6EbELZ6I
he will pay 17 Mil verse 3 Bill in taxes. So his kids and theirs in perpetuity will run the company as a “non-profit”. It’s been done before, but it doesn’t make it right. Maybe he could pay the taxes that he owes and still fight the good fight?
I didn’t read his statement before I saw the video, he must be smoking some good stuff. “Earth is our only share holder”. His kids get all the voting stock, they are the shareholders that control the other 98%.. And he didn’t “create his own” solution, conservatives have been doing for some time.