Yvon Chouinard said in a letter that he never wanted to be a businessman.
Yvon Chouinard, who started Patagonia 50 years ago, is giving it away in a bid to give impetus to fight against climate change. Patagonia, the outdoor gear brand, is worth $3 billion.
Here are five points on the man who shocked the corporate world:
Mr Chouinard was born in 1938 in US state of Maine. His father was a French-Canadian from Quebec. He moved to California in 1946. It was there, in a falcon-watching club, that a few years later he discovered his passion for rock climbing.
He created Chouinard Equipment in 1965 with a partner, which quickly became a reference group in the climbing world.
Mr Chouinard officially launched Patagonia in 1973. The group has since diversified, with subsidiaries in food, media, surfboards, investments in like-minded startups and recycling used clothes.
According to New York Times, Mr Chouinard doesn't own a computer or cellphone and divides his time between two modest houses in California and Wyoming.
"I never wanted to be a businessman," Mr Chouinard said in an open letter published on the website of Patagonia. "I started as a craftsman, making climbing gear for my friends and myself, then got into apparel. As we began to witness the extent of global warming and ecological destruction, and our own contribution to it, Patagonia committed to using our company to change the way business was done."
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