Lululemon, founder Chip Wilson at odds over board nominees

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson speaks after announcing a $100 million donation to preserve and protect B.C.'s natural spaces through his Wilson 5 Foundation, in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A clash between Lululemon Athletica Inc. and its estranged founder will come to a head at the retailer’s annual general meeting.

Regulatory filings the Vancouver-based retailer made this week put forward a slate of new board nominees, while Chip Wilson, the man who built the athleisure brand, is pitching his own trio.

Lululemon told shareholders to vote “only” for its nominees — former Levi’s CEO Chip Bergh, ex-Unilever executive Esi Eggleston Bracey and one-time Gap chief financial officer Teri List — and to ignore Wilson’s group.

The company said its nominees are worthy of votes because they have “the strong executive leadership background, board experience, and extensive expertise spanning global consumer brands necessary to oversee the company’s long-term growth and value creation strategies.”

Meanwhile, Wilson has put forward On Holding AG co-CEO Marc Maurer, former ESPN chief marketing officer Laura Gentile and ex-Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg.

He says they are “highly-qualified” and “will catalyze restoration of Lululemon’s once bold vision and product-centred brand and stop the value destruction the board has overseen for years.”

Lululemon has been at odds for years with Wilson, who founded the company in 1998 and is still a shareholder but is no longer part of its management or the board.

Tensions between the two sides flared again late last year, around the same time CEO Calvin McDonald announced he was stepping down. 

Wilson urged the brand’s leaders to use the window as an opportunity to revamp its leadership with his board nominees, so it can better compete with rivals and keep its share price from falling.

Some have criticized the company, saying it has lost customers because its product mix has grown stale while brands like Alo and Vuori have better capitalized on trends.

Lululemon hasn’t acted on Wilson’s suggestions, choosing Bergh and Bracey for its board recently. It named former Nike executive Heidi O’Neill as CEO earlier this month, though she won’t start the job until September 8. 

On Wednesday, Wilson criticized O’Neill, saying “a near 30-year veteran of Nike Inc., is not the symbol of transformative, creative-first leadership that can instil shareholder confidence in today’s world.”

He also complained the board is letting her delay her start. 

“It escapes logic how this board felt the business would be best served without a permanent CEO for nearly 300 days and why the next CEO should face months of public scrutiny before starting in the position,” he said in a news release.

Lululemon has said it chose O’Neill because she has experience strategizing at consumer-focused brands.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2026.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press