Outdoor apparel giant Patagonia has spent over $70 million to fund green initiatives, Democrat groups and other causes since September 2022 when its founder, billionaire Yvon Chouinard, gave the company away, according to the New York Times.
Chouinard and his family donated 98% of Patagonia and its common shares to a nonprofit called the Holdfast Collective, which currently oversees five different 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups. They also transferred all the company's voting stock into an established entity known as the Patagonia Purpose Trust.
The goal, they said at the time, was to ensure that Patagonia remained independent and that all profits would be used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the world.
"Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn't end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people," Chouinard said at the time. "We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet."
Holdfast made contributions to more than 70 groups during its first year, including donations for major conservation projects in Alaska, Albania, Chile, and Argentina.
It also made political contributions worth $1 million to back the election of Democrats across the U.S., including $200,000 to a Democratic super PAC in January and $100,000 to both the Democratic Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC during the last election cycle, according to the Times.
The network is "a $1.7 billion political organization in waiting," Americans for Public Trust Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told the news outlet.
"I personally fail to see the connection between spending money on abortion and climate change," Sutherland said. Holdfast Collective also donated to organizations determined to increase voter turnout in Georgia before the 2022 midterm election.
Sutherland said her group will likely file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission concerning Holdfast Collective's donations.
Greg Curtis, the former deputy general counsel of Patagonia and lone full-time employee at Holdfast Collective responsible for giving away the nonprofit's money, told the New York Times the organization did not intend to be partisan.
"We are not aiming to be an extension of the Democratic Party," he said. "The sole purpose in engaging in politics and policy is to advance stronger environmental policy."
"We would be really interested in supporting any climate leader — Republican, Democrat or independent," Curtis added. "It just so happens that a lot of those folks are Democrats."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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