Regardless of political persuasion, I admire Mr Chouinard for giving away massive wealth to stand up for his beliefs. Bravo
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/c...smid=share-url
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Regardless of political persuasion, I admire Mr Chouinard for giving away massive wealth to stand up for his beliefs. Bravo
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/c...smid=share-url
Here's another link if you can't get past NYT's paywall.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62906853
Original announcement:
https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/
I guess it will help negate Barre Seid’s donations that may fight action on climate change. (Smh on Seid’s dark money “donation”).
Patagonia customer for almost 40 years here.
Cheers to them!
SPP
I think if most regular people were given a billion dollars, they would do exactly the same, to a charitable trust of their own choosing. This only seems noteworthy because it's so different from the behavior of the typical billionaire we hear about with pathological money-hoarding tendencies.
Well I think it is noteworthy because it has been the ethic Chouinard has followed personally and with his business for a long time - at least since he stopped making climbing equipment that put holes in rocks. Not green-washing or whatever it is called after a career of poisoning waterways. And his business is not often a niche where people make fortunes. They might make a comfortable living but not like Patagonia has done. And he's moving the fruits of all his hard work into still-operating entity to support the environment, instead of writing a check as a fixed amount donation.Quote:
Originally Posted by bcm119
Selfishly, I just wish they hadn't changed the fit on their daily wear t-shirts.
But I get your point. An iceberg in Florida sticks out more than an iceberg in Greenland.
I am not so sure. Money change a lot of people...and their relatives. The thing is in that case what we are talking about is really the value of his company, not some wealth he has amassed over the year while living in complete luxury.Quote:
Originally Posted by bcm119
I think it also speaks volumes about him as a father that both of his kids have rejected ownership of the company, and appear by all accounts to live very down to earth lives.Quote:
Originally Posted by j44ke
My favorite line from the NYT story:
Quote:
“I was in Forbes magazine listed as a billionaire, which really, really pissed me off,” he said. “I don’t have $1 billion in the bank. I don’t drive Lexuses.”
The effort to hide or not hide their respective efforts says a lot about each of themQuote:
Originally Posted by Marvinlungwitz
Yeah, I wasn't trying to downplay how great of a decision this was on Chouinard's part, although it came across that way. Just pointing out the relative shock value and viral aspect of this story is due to the stark contrast from what we have come to expect from billionaires.
We gotcha.Quote:
Originally Posted by bcm119
I could not agree more.Quote:
Originally Posted by 72gmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcm119
I think the shock value is not just for billionaires, it's a bit for everyone. Even though Wall Street 2 is a bad movie, there is an all time classic line Shia Lebouf's Character keeps asking everyone who is making it, 'How much is enough? Everyone has a number when you walk away'. He asks Josh Brolin's character, the greedy billionaire finance villian, and he goes 'MORE' .
Obviously, Chounaird is poking his finger at those that say more, but I think he is also poking his finger at those that say 20mm, 10mm and 5mm....
I tend to think Chounaird is saying the only way to be greener is to consume less. I think there is a finger wag for all of us here. It's the mentality behind 'Don't buy this shirt' campaign.
Obviously Chounaird is not poor, but he was the classic asset rich, cash flow poor.
We’re resetting our lives with the goal of less consumption.
Even the n+1 bike urge is waning.