Yvon Chouinard
Ventura, California
United States
Patagonia, Self Made
$1,500,000,000
1511
#1511 Billionaires 2019
Yvon Chouinard is founder of outdoor wear maker Patagonia, based in Ventura, California.Since Patagonia was founded in 1984, it has has an open office plan - not even Chouinard, the owner, has his own office.His apparel business took off in the 1970s when Chouinard imported rugby shirts from England and sold them to climbers.Since 1985, Patagonia has set aside 1% of sales to finance grassroots environmental groups in the U.S. and abroad. Revenues hit $800 million in 2017.In May 2013 Patagonia launched Tin Shed Ventures which provides seed funding to environmentally and socially responsible start-ups.
On Black Friday 2011, Patagonia ran a full-page ad in The New York Times encouraging customers not to buy its products, but to reuse or repair items instead.An avid climber, Chouinard taught himself blacksmithing in 1957 to make reusable climbing tools that wouldn't pollute the environment.
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