Person

Yvon Chouinard

Born:

1938

Nationality:

American

Occupation:

Founder and former owner, Patagonia

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Yvon Chouinard is the socialist billionaire founder and former owner of Patagonia, a sportswear apparel company known for its environmentalist activism, including donating 1 percent of annual revenue to philanthropic causes.

In 2022, Chouinard and his family relinquished control of the company to a trust and a nonprofit that are intended to continue to Chouinard’s business principles during his retirement and after his death. Critics have accused Chouinard of using the maneuver to avoid paying taxes.

Background

Yvon Chouinard was born in 1938 in Lewiston, Maine. His family was French-Canadian, and Chouinard attended a French-speaking school. In 1947, Chouinard and his family moved to Southern California. Chouinard became interested in falconry, and at age 16, he moved to Wyoming to focus on mountain climbing and searching for falcon nests. Chouinard also briefly worked as a private investigator. 1

In 1957, Chouinard taught himself blacksmithing and manufactured his own environmentally friendly climbing equipment. He began selling his equipment while travelling around the United States for mountain climbing. In 1962, Chouinard was drafted into the military and spent a year stationed in South Korea before being honorably discharged. In 1971, Chouinard and his wife began selling apparel alongside climbing equipment. 2

Patagonia

Chouinard’s sportswear brand Patagonia was founded on environmentalist principles. The company’s inaugural catalogue included a manifesto for environmentally responsible climbing. 3 Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert has called the company a “weird mashup” of a for-profit company and an non-governmental organization. 4

Since 1985, Patagonia has pledged 1 percent of its revenue to charitable environmentalist causes, amounting to $140 million by 2022. Other companies have also made the One Percent for the Planet pledge. 5 Recipients of funds generated by the pledge include the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the Rainforest Trust, the Access Fund, and Conservation International. 6

Patagonia has engaged in high-profile activism, including suing the Trump administration for shrinking federally protected land, 7 donating the $10 million worth of benefits of the Trump administration-backed corporate tax cuts, 8 taking out an ad in the New York Times encouraging customers not to buy Patagonia clothing, 9 and joining the Stop Hate for Profit boycott against advertising on Facebook. 10

Political Views

Yvon Chouinard identifies as “an avowed socialist.” In an interview, Chouinard said he admired the governments of Scandinavia and did not consider Venezuela to be socialist. 11

Before the 2020 elections, Chouinard said: “We’re going to spend a lot of money and basically say, vote the climate deniers out. Anyone who is a climate denier or even on the fence, vote them out because they are evil. They are out to destroy our planet, and we’re not going to stand for it.” 12

In a 2016 interview, Chouinard stated he opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership and identified as an “isolationist.” He also said, “Trump is the perfect person to take us to the apocalypse,” and that he was “on Obama’s sh*t list” for criticizing the Obama administration’s record on climate change. 13

Chouinard has called himself a “reluctant businessman.” 14 He has said that “It’s as difficult for me to say those words as it is for someone to admit being an alcoholic or a lawyer…. I’ve never respected the profession. It’s business that has to take the majority of the blame for being the enemy of nature.” 15

In September 2022, Chouinard’s net worth was estimated at $1.2 billion. 16 Chouinard has said: “I was in Forbes magazine listed as a billionaire, which really, really pissed me off… I don’t have $1 billion in the bank. I don’t drive Lexuses.” 17

Transfer of Ownership of Patagonia

In August 2022, Yvon Chouinard, his wife, and their two children, transferred all voting shares (about 2 percent of total shares) of the company to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a trust overseen by the Chouinards dedicated to using Patagonia’s profits for environmentalist purposes. The other 98 percent of shares were transferred to the Holdfast Collective, an advocacy group that will support environmentalist advocacy. 18

Chouinard said: “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…. We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.” 19

An analysis by Bloomberg noted that the unique structure of the Patagonia transfer allowed the Chouinard family to sell Patagonia while retaining indirect control over its operations and avoiding $700 million in taxes that they would have paid in a standard sale. 20

The Chouinards paid $17.5 million in gift taxes on the transfer. 21

Political Donations

Since 1986, Yvon Chouinard has made $1,268,345 in FEC-reportable contributions to political candidates or PACs as of December 2022. 22

Chouinard’s largest reportable donation was $500,000 to the NextGen Climate Action Committee in 2014. 23

References

  1. “Yvon Chouinard: the Patagonia climber-surfer who inspires millions.” Surfer Today. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/yvon-chouinard-the-story-of-the-legendary-patagonia-founder.
  2. “Yvon Chouinard: the Patagonia climber-surfer who inspires millions.” Surfer Today. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/yvon-chouinard-the-story-of-the-legendary-patagonia-founder.
  3. “Yvon Chouinard: the Patagonia climber-surfer who inspires millions.” Surfer Today. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/yvon-chouinard-the-story-of-the-legendary-patagonia-founder.
  4. Chang, Andrea. “Patagonia shows corporate activism is simpler than it looks.” Los Angeles Times. May 9, 2021. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-09/patagonia-shows-corporate-activism-is-simpler-than-it-looks.
  5. “1% for the Planet.” Patagonia. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.patagonia.com/one-percent-for-the-planet.html.
  6. “Environmental Partners.” One Percent for the Planet. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://onepercentfortheplanet.org/environmental-partners.
  7. Gelles, David. “Patagonia v. Trump.” The New York Times. May 5, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/business/patagonia-trump-bears-ears.html.
  8. Miller, Ryan W. “Patagonia plans to donate $10 million saved from Trump tax cuts to environmental groups.” USA Today. November 28, 2018. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/11/28/patagonia-money-saved-trump-tax-cut-environmental-cause/2143733002/.
  9. “Don’t Buy This Jacket, Black Friday and the New York Times.” Patagonia. November 25, 2011. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.patagonia.com/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html.
  10. Culliford, Elizabeth. “Patagonia joins The North Face in Facebook ad boycott.” Reuters. June 22, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ads-patagonia/patagonia-joins-the-north-face-in-facebook-ad-boycott-idUSKBN23T2JG.
  11. Geraghty, Jim. “The Socialist Billionaire Who’s Getting a Sweet Tax Deal.” National Review. September 16, 2022. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/the-socialist-billionaire-whos-getting-a-sweet-tax-deal/.
  12. Geraghty, Jim. “A Billionaire Explains Why We Need Socialism.” National Review. November 1, 2019. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/a-billionaire-explains-why-we-need-socialism/.
  13. Paumgarten, Nick. “Patagonia’s Philosopher-King.” The New Yorker. September 12, 2016. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-philosopher-king.
  14. “Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman – Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual.” Amazon. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.amazon.com/Let-My-People-Go-Surfing-audiobook/dp/B01KB9LY6I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9M46VDPITW4N&keywords=Let+My+People+Go+Surfing%3A+The+Education+of+a+Reluctant+Businessman&linkCode=sl2&linkId=985286062ed5e61a4a7e6524c84e61d6&qid=1671041630&sprefix=let+my+people+go+surfing+the+education+of+a+reluctant+businessman%2Caps%2C912&sr=8-1.
  15. Sirtori-Cortina, Daniela. “From Climber To Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia Into A Powerhouse His Own Way.” Forbes. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielasirtori/2017/03/20/from-climber-to-billionaire-how-yvon-chouinard-built-patagonia-into-a-powerhouse-his-own-way/?sh=5c9b8fce275c.
  16. Silverman, Sam. “Who Is Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard? Meet the Entrepreneur Who’s Giving Away His $3 Billion Brand.” Entrepreneur. September 15, 2022. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.entrepreneur.com/living/who-is-patagonia-founder-yvon-chouinard-net-worth-and-more/435446.
  17. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html.
  18. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” The New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html
  19. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html.
  20. [1] Foreman, Polly. “Owner of Patagonia Faces Backlash After Giving $3 Billion Company To The Earth.” Plant Based News. September 21, 2022. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://plantbasednews.org/news/economics/owner-patagonia-gives-away-company-climate-crisis/#:~:text=The%20owner%20of%20Patagonia%20has,to%20fight%20the%20climate%20crisis.
  21. Gelles, David. “Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company.” New York Times. September 14, 2022. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/climate/patagonia-climate-philanthropy-chouinard.html.
  22. “Federal Elections Commission Search: Yvon Chouinard.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Yvon+Chouinard.
  23. “Federal Elections Commission Search: Yvon Chouinard.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Yvon+Chouinard.
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