Who owns Patagonia now?

If you’re looking for a company that’s a leader in environmental and social responsibility on many fronts, look no further than Patagonia, a designer of outdoor clothing gear for the “silent sports”—climbing, surfing, skiing, snowboarding, fly fishing, and trail running. Just start with Patagonia’s mission statement: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”

In addition to being fair-trade certified for all of its sewing production, the brand knows and publicly discloses all of its first-tier suppliers and is actively working to map out the rest down to the farm level for the raw materials used in its gear. Many consider Patagonia to be an outdoor brand, but it offers products in many categories, from sundresses to skinny jeans.^[1]

A large portion of the company’s products are made from recycled materials or raw organic cotton. Plastic soda bottles are made into fleece jackets, guayule plants are made into wetsuits, and they take back worn-out Patagonia products that consumers return to the store at no charge and then recycle them into their supply chain.^[2]

In 2022, Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, announced that he and his family transferred ownership of the $3 billion company to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization.^[3] Chouinard, who is 83, hopes that this will result in a new form of capitalism that “doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people.”^[4]

As he looked toward retirement, Chouinard’s children did not want to take over ownership of Patagonia and he especially did not want to take the company public because he had no confidence that a publicly traded company would prioritize the welfare of workers.^[5] He told the New York Times, “I didn’t know what to do with the company because I didn’t ever want a company. I didn’t want to be a businessman. Now I could die tomorrow and the company is going to continue doing the right thing for the next 50 years, and I don’t have to be around.”^[6]

Patagonia will still operate as a for-profit business; however, the Patagonia Purpose Trust will control the company. At the same time, the newly established nonprofit organization, the Holdfast Collective, will receive 100% of Patagonia’s profits, estimated at $100 million a year, and be responsible for ensuring that the money is used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.^[7]