Lululemon has erupted into a bitter public feud with billionaire founder Chip Wilson, accusing him of pushing 'misguided perspectives' that could derail the struggling retailer's turnaround efforts. The athleticwear giant took the unusual step of directly attacking its founder in a sharply worded letter to shareholders on Monday after settlement talks between the two sides collapsed last week.
In the letter, reviewed by the Daily Mail, Lululemon accused Wilson of repeatedly damaging the brand and attempting to regain influence over the company through a proxy battle aimed at reshaping the board of directors. 'Wilson, who stopped serving on the Board over a decade ago for well-documented reasons, has been attacking the company and the Board for many years, damaging the brand and hurting shareholders,' the company wrote. 'Your Board firmly believes that replacing any of lululemon's directors with Mr. Wilson's less qualified nominees would endorse his misguided perspectives, deprive the company of critical skills and expertise, and risk derailing our progress in an especially pivotal time for our business and organization.'
The public clash comes as Lululemon faces mounting pressure from slowing sales growth, intensifying competition and investor frustration over the company's direction. Shares in the retailer have plunged nearly 43 percent this year as the company struggles with weaker consumer demand in the US, tariff pressures and concerns that its products are no longer generating the same excitement among shoppers.
The once-dominant athleisure brand is also facing growing competition from rivals including Vuori and Alo Yoga as the broader athleisure boom cools. Wilson, who founded Lululemon in 1998 and remains its largest individual shareholder with an 8.97 percent stake, has become increasingly vocal about what he sees as failures inside the company. His main criticism centers on Lululemon's board and leadership, which he blames for steering the brand away from the creativity and product innovation that originally made it successful.
In a letter to shareholders last week, Wilson argued the company had been 'deprioritizing creative excellence at the altar of efficiency.' 'The solution,' he wrote, 'is more proven, creative leaders in the boardroom.' Wilson is backing three alternative board nominees ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting on June 25: former ESPN marketing chief Laura Gentile, former Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg and former On co-CEO Marc Maurer.
Lululemon, meanwhile, is urging shareholders to support its own nominees, including former Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh and former Unilever executive Esi Eggleston Bracey. The retailer has also aggressively pushed back against Wilson's picks, arguing they lack sufficient retail and public company board experience. The company specifically highlighted concerns surrounding Maurer's ties to Swiss sportswear brand On, which competes directly with Lululemon. According to the company, Maurer still holds a personal stake in On worth tens of millions of dollars, representing 'a considerable portion of his net worth.'
The boardroom battle intensified after talks aimed at avoiding a proxy fight broke down last week. According to the letter, Lululemon had offered to appoint two of Wilson's nominees to the board following the annual meeting and create a new advisory product council involving a third nominee. But Wilson reportedly demanded broader powers, including the ability to replace directors if his nominees stepped down and reimbursement for his campaign costs. The company rejected those requests and negotiations collapsed.
The feud has also spilled into debate over incoming CEO Heidi O'Neill, who is set to take over in September after nearly three decades at Nike. Investors initially reacted coolly to O'Neill's appointment, with some questioning whether a longtime Nike executive was the right person to revive Lululemon as Nike itself battles slowing growth and operational challenges. 'A near 30-year veteran of Nike is not the symbol of transformative, creative-first leadership that can instill shareholder confidence in today's world,' Wilson wrote in an April letter to investors. 'Shareholders are right to question if she has the product skillset or history of value creation that is needed to revitalize lululemon.'
Lululemon strongly defended its incoming chief executive in Monday's letter, calling O'Neill 'the ideal executive to lead' the company through its next phase. The retailer pointed to her role building Nike's women's business into a multibillion-dollar division and overseeing digital transformation efforts during a period of rapid online sales growth. 'O'Neill established and built Nike's Women's business and grew it into a multi-billion-dollar franchise,' the company wrote. 'She demonstrated an ability to clearly articulate the lululemon brand's essence and future opportunity, while also bringing a pragmatic, execution-oriented mindset.'
The feud marks one of the most dramatic corporate showdowns in the retail industry this year, pitting the founder who built Lululemon into a global brand against the leadership team now trying to engineer its comeback. Wilson stepped aside as CEO in 2013 after saying that 'some women's bodies just actually don't work' in Lululemon's yoga pants. He then went on to leave the board altogether in 2015.
