Case
Patagonia: ownership passes to the Purpose Trust and Holdfast Collective (2022)
On 14 September 2022 the family of Yvon Chouinard transferred all ownership of Patagonia to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, which holds all the voting stock (2 per cent), and the Holdfast Collective, which holds all the non-voting stock (98 per cent). Patagonia says profits not reinvested are paid as dividends to the Holdfast Collective, projected at about $100 million a year; it remains a B Corp and gives 1 per cent of sales to grassroots activists. CNBC, citing the New York Times, put its value at $3 billion.
- Industry
- Outdoor clothing and equipment (USA)
- Frameworks applied
- Shareholder, stakeholder and market-failures viewsStakeholder theory
Frameworks applied
This case is read through the frameworks below.
- Shareholder, stakeholder and market-failures viewsWhen a safety or environmental decision sets profit against the interests of staff or the community, do executives owe their duty first to shareholders or to all stakeholders?
- Stakeholder theoryBefore a major decision such as closing a plant or switching suppliers, which stakeholders beyond shareholders should the leadership team weigh, and how?
Sources
References
Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.
- Constantino, A.K. (2022) Why Patagonia's billionaire founder gave away his $3 billion company to fight climate change: 'Earth is now our only shareholder'. CNBC Make It.No DOIcnbc.comSource page
- Patagonia (2022) Patagonia's Next Chapter: Earth is Now Our Only Shareholder. Press release.No DOIpatagoniaworks.comSource page