Billionaire Patagonia Founder Gives Firm Away for Climate Fight (2)

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family are giving away ownership in the outdoor apparel company he created almost fifty years ago to a trust and a non-profit devoted to fighting the environmental crisis.

Chouinard considered selling the company or going public, but decided on the unusual move to ensure the company’s profits will go to protect the environment.

“What a disaster that would have been,” he wrote, according to a statement posted on the Ventura, California-based company’s website. “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.”

Yvon Chouinard

Photographer: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Chouinard, his wife ...