Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the Retail & Consumer industry myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Lululemon founder and major shareholder Chip Wilson has nominated three new board directors to oversee the appointment of a new chief executive at the struggling activewear maker, which has been targeted by activist investor Elliott Management.
Wilson, who owns an 8.4 per cent stake in the company, called for the appointments of former On Running co-CEO Marc Maurer, ex-ESPN marketing chief Laura Gentile and former Activision chief Eric Hirshberg to Lululemon’s board.
“Lululemon needs visionary creative leadership to thrive,” Wilson said on Monday. “The simple truth is that the current board lacks these skills and, as a result, Lululemon is unable to win back the confidence of its critical stakeholders and regain commercial momentum.”
In response, Lululemon defended both its performance and its “highly engaged and experienced board”, adding that more than a third of its directors had joined within the past four years.
Lululemon said that Wilson had given the company advance notice of his intent to nominate new directors.
“In the interest of avoiding a costly and distracting proxy fight, the board requested from Mr. Wilson the names of his director nominees to evaluate their qualifications and backgrounds, but Mr. Wilson declined to engage further,” it added.
The Canadian yoga brand has endured a dismal 2025. US tariffs, intensifying competition from new entrants and subdued consumer spending have weighed on the company, particularly in the North American market.
Brands such as Alo, Fabletics, Vuori and Kim Kardashian’s Skims have chipped away at the Canadian company’s dominance in the high-end segment.
Shares in Lululemon have fallen about 45 per cent over the past year, valuing the maker of leggings and sports bras at about $24.8bn. The company announced this month that it had begun a search process to replace chief executive Calvin McDonald.
Lululemon’s struggles have attracted Elliott, which has taken a stake worth more than $1bn in the company, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The activist investor has been working with former Ralph Lauren executive Jane Nielsen and views her as a potential future chief executive of Lululemon because of her history of transforming brands, the person said.
Elliott’s campaign is separate from Wilson’s and the two parties are not working together, said a person familiar with Wilson’s thinking.
Wilson, who founded the company in 1998, has taken to regularly sniping at Lululemon’s executives in recent years, criticising them for being able to “speak Wall Street” but lacking a “product-driven” approach.
But Lululemon defended its record, pointing out that Wilson “has not been involved with the company for a decade”.
“Over the last 10 years, the board has overseen a significant period of growth, with revenues increasing nearly $9bn, from $2.1bn in fiscal year 2015 to $11bn expected in fiscal year 2025 based on our guidance,” it said on Monday.
In his latest public criticism, Wilson hit out at the way the board, which has been chaired by Marti Morfitt since March 2022, had handled succession planning. McDonald, who had sought to diversify the brand from yoga by pushing into golf and tennis, and attract more male customers, is stepping down at the end of January.
Wilson said Lululemon’s shareholders “have no faith” in the ability of its sitting board directors to “select and support” the next chief executive.
Appointing new directors was “the only way to restore shareholder confidence and set Lululemon back on the path to growth, product innovation and premium quality”, he said.
Lululemon said it recognised that “further opportunities exist to realise greater value across the company” and that it had started a “comprehensive search for the company’s next CEO” to achieve that goal.
