People walk past a Lululemon store on April 3, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | fake images
lululemon is ending his feud with founder Chip Wilson.
The sportswear company reached a deal with Wilson on Wednesday that ended a complicated proxy contest the founder launched late last year as its largest individual shareholder.
Under the terms of the deal, Luluelmon agreed to name two of Wilson's nominees, former On co-CEO Marc Maurer and former ESPN chief marketing officer Laura Gentile, and an additional director with “product and brand experience in apparel” by October.
In exchange, Wilson agreed not to speak ill of the company for approximately a year and a half, among other provisions.
Lululemon shares rose more than 3% in afternoon trading.
Wilson previously asked the company to reimburse expenses associated with its proxy contest, but ultimately agreed to a donation that Lululemon will make to Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Lululemon was founded, to support athletics, art and landscaping.
“We are delighted to reach this agreement with Chip Wilson, which allows lululemon to focus on continuing to strengthen its performance,” said Marti Morfitt, CEO of Lululemon.
“We look forward to welcoming Laura and Marc, who will bring additional perspective to our current group of qualified directors. Lululemon now has a clear path forward for our incoming CEO, Heidi O'Neill, and our leadership team, as we continue to advance our strategies to foster strong brand health, reignite growth and deliver greater value to our shareholders.”
Wilson said the appointees, along with the strategic changes already made, “reflect significant progress toward restoring the company's product-first vision and unlocking tremendous value for shareholders.”
The founder, who has been publicly feuding with the company since late last year, was close to reaching a deal with Lululemon two weeks ago, but settlement talks collapsed when he escalated his demands.
Lululemon then went public with the proxy contest and issued a scathing letter to shareholders saying Wilson had “outdated perspectives” and “concerning conflicts of interest” that would derail its turnaround plan.
“Wilson, who stepped down from the Board more than a decade ago for well-documented reasons, has been attacking the company and the Board for many years, damaging the brand and harming shareholders. He has now put forward three opposing nominees in an attempt to regain greater influence over the company he has coveted since he left,” the letter said.
At the time, the company said its board of directors “strongly believes that replacing any of Lululemon's directors with Mr. Wilson's less qualified nominees would support his misguided perspectives, deprive the company of critical skills and experience, and risk derailing our progress at an especially crucial time for our business and organization.”
Shortly after Lululemon sent its letter to shareholders, Wilson issued his own press release saying that he was under the impression that he and the retailer were on the same page and that there was “no reason” why they couldn't “quickly reach a resolution to this fight.”
A little more than a week later, the parties announced an agreement.
Wilson has long been critical of Lululemon since he resigned as chairman in 2013, but stepped up his attacks in recent months as the retailer's performance faltered and its stock price plummeted.
After several years of rapid growth, Lululemon's business in the Americas, its largest market, has slowed as it faces tariff costs, an unstable American consumer and a product range that has failed to win over shoppers in the same way it did before.
It also faced stiff competition from startups such as Vuori and Alo Yoga as the global athleisure market began to cool.
When it reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings in March, Lululemon issued weak fiscal 2026 guidance and warned that higher tariffs and its proxy battle with Wilson would hurt its results. As of Tuesday's close, the company's shares are down nearly 39% so far this year.
