A reluctant billionaire has given away their $3BN company after seeing themselves listed in Forbes Magazine.

Yvon Chouinard who founded outdoor apparel maker Patagonia more than half a century ago has transferred ownership of the billion-dollar company to a specially designed Trust in a bid to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.

Rather than sell the company or take it public, Chouinard decided to transfer ownership of Patagonia to ensure no benefits were to be made to the 83-year-old, his wife or two children.

This comes some weeks on from the revelation that Republican Donor, Barre Seid was able to reap a considerable personal tax windfall after giving away his company to a not-for-profit organisation and donating to Conservative causes. Chouinard and his family will not have anything to gain from their transfer of ownership as 2% of the family’s shares have been given to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the remaining 98% to a newly established not-for-profit organisation that aims to combat climate change and can, along the way, make unlimited political contributions. This means the family received no tax benefit for its donation, something Chouinard was passionately against.

Hoping to create a new form of capitalism, Chouinard published a private letter where he spoke out against the dangers of taking a company public. He said: “One option was to sell Patagonia and donate all the money. But we couldn’t be sure a new owner would maintain our values or keep our team of people around the world employed.

“Another path was to take the company public. What a disaster that would have been. Even public companies with good intentions are under too much pressure to create short-term gain at the expense of long-term vitality and responsibility.

“Truth be told, there were no good options available. So, we created our own. Instead of “going public,” you could say we’re “going purpose.” Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.”

He also spoke about the responsibilities of billionaires with advisers close to him stating his ideology that ‘every billionaire is a policy failure’.

Do you agree that a new form of capitalism is needed?

Join the conversation – what do you make of Chouinard's decision to give up his multi-billion dollar company?