Living in His Car, Selling Pitons From the Trunk

Yvon Chouinard began climbing mountains at 14. Climbing drew him into a life with few possessions, and for years he lived out of his car while chasing mountaineering adventures. Forbes reports that he ate cans of cat food, and the American Alpine Club's Legacy Series describes stories from that era of expired cat food and cold nights in what climbers call shiver bivouacs, when partners stuffed crumpled pages of a novel into their coats for insulation.

The car was also his shop window. He sold climbing pitons, metal spikes used to anchor ropes, from the back of it, which helped him reach future customers among fellow climbers.

In 1966 he set up in a tin shed beside the beach in Ventura, California. There he developed his gear and, later, his clothing lines. He became known for improvements to climbing equipment, among them the ice axe and crampons.

That small business grew into Patagonia, which is now one of the leading brands in the outdoor industry. Forbes estimated that the company was worth more than one billion dollars in 2022. That year Chouinard donated it to a trust and a nonprofit, in part because he disliked being called a billionaire. The organisations were set up to put its profits toward protecting the environment and fighting climate change.

The Forbes article puts him among 15 people on its list of the 250 Greatest Self-Made Americans who experienced housing instability.