Yvon Chouinard, the founder of apparel brand Patagonia, is giving away the entire company – valued at $3 billion – to trusts and non-profit organizations that are focused on climate change. 

The company posted from its official Twitter handle, “Hey, friends, we just gave our company to planet Earth. OK, it’s more nuanced than that, but we’re closed today to celebrate this new plan to save our one and only home. We’ll be back online tomorrow.”

Explaining his reason, the 83-year-old told The New York Times, “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”, adding, “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.” 

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The voting stock (2% of overall shares) has been given to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, overseen by family members and advisors who intend to ensure the company remains committed to fighting global warming. 

The nonvoting stock goes to nonprofit Holdfast Collective, also committed to protecting the environment. 

“Earth is now our only shareholder”, Chouinard said, adding “While we’re doing our best to address the environmental crisis, it’s not enough”. In his written decision, he further explained, “We needed to find a way to put more money into fighting the crisis while keeping the company’s values intact. Truth be told, there were no good options available. So, we created our own.” 

Chouinard had the option to either take the company public or sell it and chose to take an alternate approach. He said, “We couldn’t be sure a new owner would maintain our values or keep our team of people around the world employed.” Going public, he said, would likely pressure the company to focus on short-term gains as opposed to long-term values.” 

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When Forbes listed him as a billionaire, Chouinard was reportedly “pissed off”, and with his recent decision, he said he felt a big relief about putting his life in order. 

Even before the sale, Patagonia had, for years, pledged 1% profits to grassroots environmental advocates, and has maintained a strong stance against climate change deniers who are in office.