A Purpose-Protecting Ownership Model

In 2022, the Chouinard family transferred all voting stock to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and all nonvoting stock to the Holdfast Collective. The trust is designed to protect the company’s mission; the nonprofit owns the economic interest and receives dividends from profits not reinvested in the business.

The arrangement did not turn Patagonia itself into a nonprofit, and the family remains involved in the trust and company board. Its importance is more precise: ownership rights were divided so that control protects stated values while excess economic returns fund environmental work.