Yvon Chouinard has built an empire with his outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, but this rock climbing and surfing aficionado is first and foremost a nature enthusiast, so he never wanted to follow traditional ways of doing things. .

If the evidence was missing, at 83, he decided to simply donate his business to fight the climate crisis that is punishing the planet.

An unexpected gesture with few precedents in the United States, country of capitalism par excellence, although in line with the philosophy of life of this Californian at heart.

“I’ve been a businessman for nearly 60 years,” he wrote in a 2006 book. “It’s as hard for me to say those words as it is for other people to admit they’re alcoholics or lawyers. “

“However, a business can produce food, cure disease, control demographics, employ people, and generally enrich our lives,” he continued. A company “can make a profit without losing its soul”.

Chouinard is recognized for his efforts to make Patagonia a responsible company.

The company pledged in 1985 to allocate 1% of its turnover to environmental groups and was one of the first textile companies to switch entirely to organic cotton in 1996.

Patagonia was the first brand to adopt the Californian Utilities Statute in 2012, and in 2018 it officially changed its corporate purpose to “Save the Planet”.

Finally, nearly 50 years after the launch of the brand, Chouinard decided, in agreement with his wife and two children, to transfer 100% of his shares in the company to a fund responsible for ensuring respect for his life values. , and an association fighting against the environmental crisis and protecting nature.

This latest new owner will receive all of the company’s profits, estimated at around $100 million a year.

“The Earth is now our sole shareholder,” Chouinard summed up.

– Rugby shirts –

Patagonia board member Kristine Mcdivitt Tompkins has known Yvon Chouinard since she was 24 years old. “His vision has never changed,” he said in the statement announcing the donation.

“Although he is still in good health, he wanted to put in place a plan for the future of the company and the planet,” he summed up.

Born in 1938 in Maine, in the northern United States, to a French-Canadian father from Quebec and a mother he defines as “adventurer”, Yvon Chouinard moved to California in 1946.

It was in a falcon observation club that he discovered, a few years later, his passion for climbing.

She started to make her own accessories for the practice of sport. This is how his business was born, although in the early years it was just to survive.

In 1965, he created Chouinard Equipment with a partner, which became a reference in the world of climbing.

During a tour in Scotland, Yvon Chouinard buys a rugby jersey to wear while climbing: the fabric is solid and the collar protects his neck from the rubbing of the ropes.

Back in the United States, he made similar pieces, opening a new door to his business. Started selling rugby shirts amongst other clothing. In 1973 Patagonia was born.

Since then, the group has diversified. She created subsidiaries in food, media, surfboards, investments in start-ups that shared her values. He also started recycling used clothes.

Forbes magazine valued the outdoor clothing entrepreneur’s fortune at $1.2 billion.

But Chouinard drives an old Subaru, has no computer or cellphone, and divides his life between two modest homes in California and Wyoming, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Discussing his latest decision for the future of his business, Yvon Chouinard told the newspaper: “We hope it will influence a new form of capitalism, which does not result in a handful of rich and a lot of poor”.

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© Agence France-Presse