The founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, has given the company to a charitable trust. He wants to use the company’s profits to fight climate change.
Patagonia became popular because its clothes are durable and guaranteed for life. The company can also repair customers’ clothing for a reasonable price.
The company also had a famous advertisement that said, “Don’t buy this jacket.” Patagonia asked shoppers to think about the environment before buying products.
Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia in 1973. Its sales this year were $1.5 billion.
Chouinard is a billionaire but does not like that status. He says he never wanted to be a businessman.
According to Chouinard, Patagonia will donate around $100 million a year to help the environment.
Patagonia’s prices are high, for example a sweater costs around $230. T-shirts cost around $45. Patagonia says its prices are higher than other companies because the clothes last for your whole life.
The company also tries to be environmentally friendly. This adds to the cost of its products.
Before giving the company to a charitable trust, Chouinard considered selling it and donating the money. He decided not to do that because new owners might change the company’s values.
The company will now be controlled by his family’s charitable trust called Patagonia Purpose Trust, and Holdfast Collective, a charity in the US.
VOCABULARY
- Founder – a person who starts a new company
- Charitable trust – a legal relationship in which the owner of ‘property’ gives the ‘property’ to another person who must keep and use it to help other people
- Profit – extra money, financial gain
- Climate change – the fast and dangerous change in weather happening around the world
- Durable – tough; long-lasting; well made; strong;
- Guarantee – assurance or a promise that the product will work well; warranty;
- Reasonable – a fair price; not expensive; affordable
- Environment – the natural world, the place we live, the area around us, nature
- Billionaire – a person who has more than one billion dollars
- Status – rank; classification; position; standing; level in society
- According to – as ‘someone’ said; as stated by ‘someone’; in the opinion of ‘someone’
- Donate – to give money, food or goods to charity; to give something away to help others
- Consider – to think about carefully; to take ‘something’ into account when thinking or deciding;
- Values – judgment of what is important; standard of behavior; ethics; principles
Original story from BBC below:
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