The clothing and camping equipment company Patagonia has announced an extraordinary step in the business world: a reorganization so that all of its current profits around the world will be directed in favor of investing in the quality of the environment and in initiatives designed to fight climate change and act against pollution and in favor of biological diversity.
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The founder of the private company, Yvonne Schweiner, announced yesterday (Wednesday) in an interview with the “New York Times” about the change in direction of the company, whose value is estimated at billions of dollars. According to estimates, the restructuring will channel about $100 million annually from Patagonia’s profits to environmental causes.
Patagonia founder, Yvonne Schweiner / Photo: Associated Press, Matt Rourke
All controlling shares in the company will now be concentrated in a trust fund, which will make sure that the company meets the new environmental goals, and that it is satisfied with a minimal investment of the income for the benefit of current activity and growth. The other shares will be managed within a collective in which two of the children of Schweiner, 83 years old, who has been active for decades in favor of the quality of the environment, who has launched several initiatives in the past to preserve it, will serve. The collective will make sure that the profits of the company, which has remained in private hands since it was founded in the 1970s, will be allocated to various initiatives in favor of environmental quality, against climate change and in favor of nature conservation.
“A New Kind of Capitalism”
Schweiner previously initiated a program in which companies allocate 1% of profits to the environment, in which Patagonia was the first company. Currently, about 5,000 companies have joined it.
“If there is any hope for a prosperous Earth in 50 years, it depends on us doing everything we can to that end with all the resources at our disposal,” Amershuiner told The New York Times, “As a business leader, which I never wanted to be, I Contribute my part. Instead of extracting value at the expense of nature and turning it into capital, we use the capital that Patagonia creates to protect the planet.”
In a press release published yesterday, the former American billionaire (of French-Canadian descent) said that he decided to donate the company’s profits, because “we had to find a way to inject more funds to deal with the climate crisis, while maintaining the company’s assets.”
The value of the company is estimated at 3 billion dollars. “We hope that the move will affect the creation of a new type of capitalism that will not lead to very few very rich people and very many poor people,” Schweiner said. The title of the message is: “Earth is now our sole shareholder.”
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.https://t.co/fvRFDgOzVZ
– Patagonia (@patagonia) September 14, 2022