Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, his husband and two grown children are now donating their ownership of the clothing company, which Chouinard started about 50 years ago, AP reports.
All future profits are dedicated to projects and organizations that work to protect nature and its biological diversity, as well as to combat the climate crisis.
"We are doing our best to deal with the environmental crisis, but it is not enough," Chouinard wrote on Patagonia's website on Wednesday evening.
"We needed to find a way to add more money to fight the crisis while keeping the company's values intact."
he added.
The privately held company's shares will now be owned by a climate-focused foundation and a group of nonprofits, called the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective, respectively.
The company emphasized that every dollar that is not reinvested back into Patagonia.
will be deployed to protect the planet.
Patagonia expects to generate and donate approximately $100 million annually depending on the business's turnover.