The world of global entrepreneurship is full of people who started from nothing — a humble job or a small idea — and climbed all the way to the top. But a rare few have decided to give back everything they earned.

One of the finest examples is Yvon Chouinard, founder of the technical apparel brand Patagonia. In 2022, Chouinard chose to hand over his stake in the company — valued at roughly $3 billion (about €2.6 billion) — to environmental organizations.

From a love of climbing to the birth of Patagonia

Yvon Chouinard was born in 1938 in a small town in Maine to Franco-Canadian parents. His family moved to California a few years later, and he grew passionate about climbing, becoming one of the “pioneers” of Yosemite Valley.

On his early climbs, Chouinard realized that the climbing gear of the day was poorly made. He bought a small forge and started producing his own pitons. That was the beginning of his first company, Chouinard Equipment, which made climbing hardware throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s.

In those same years he noticed something else: the technical clothing available to climbers was either too cold or too hot, uncomfortable, and far from durable. That frustration — combined with a trip to Scotland, where he was struck by the pile fleece sweaters worn by local fishermen — led to his first line of technical apparel.

The year was 1973, the official founding date of Patagonia, the brand that for more than 50 years has stood for excellence in high-performance, sustainable sportswear.

“Earth is now our only shareholder”

In 2022, Chouinard — then 83 years old — made a decision with few parallels in modern business. Instead of enjoying a comfortable retirement or passing his fortune to his heirs, he donated 100% of his shares, worth an estimated $3 billion, to organizations dedicated to protecting the environment.

The move was made in agreement with his family and came with a statement that ought to be read aloud to climate deniers and developers alike: «Earth is now our only shareholder».

It was a powerful message, published on Patagonia’s official website, in which Chouinard also highlighted the company’s long-standing environmental commitment — its choice to use only sustainable materials and its practice of donating 1% of sales every year to environmental NGOs.

Patagonia will keep going

The good news for Patagonia’s customers is that the company will continue to operate, remaining based in California and selling its high-quality technical gear.

The Chouinard family, however, will no longer be part of the project. The voting shares — 2% of the total — were transferred to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a fund overseen by family members that is tasked with monitoring the company’s work in terms of channeling profits toward social responsibility.

The remaining 98% of the equity was handed to a new nonprofit, the Holdfast Collective, created to receive the company’s profits and reinvest them in initiatives to fight climate change.

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Andrea Fabbri on August 10, 2026 as «La storia di successo di Yvon Chouinard, fondatore di Patagonia che ha rinunciato all’azienda per l’ambiente». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.