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Chip Wilson Urges lululemon Shareholders to vote for Independent Board Nominees

Chip Wilson, founder of lululemon athletica and one of the company's largest shareholders, released a shareholder letter on April 29, 2026, urging investors to vote for his three independent board nominees at the company's 2026 Annual Meeting.

Published: May 1, 2026 12:58 PM

By Jeanel Alvarado

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Chip Wilson Urges lululemon Shareholders to vote for Independent Board Nominees

Credit: lululemon

Chip Wilson, founder of lululemon athletica and one of the company’s largest shareholders, released a shareholder letter on April 29, 2026, urging investors to vote for his three independent board nominees at the company’s 2026 Annual Meeting. The letter accuses the board of failing to understand and protect the brand’s premium position, leading to $17 billion in destroyed shareholder value over five years.

Value Destruction Metrics Wilson cited a 65.9% loss in shareholder value over less than two years, making lululemon one of the worst performing stocks among peers, lagging the peer median on one and three year total shareholder returns by 19.5% and 63.6% respectively.

The company has reported flat or declining same store sales in the Americas for eight consecutive quarters.

Board Nominees Wilson nominated three independent candidates: Marc Maurer, former Co-CEO of On Holding AG, who helped quadruple revenue during his tenure; Laura Gentile, former Chief Marketing Officer of ESPN, who founded espnW; and Eric Hirshberg, former CEO of Activision Publishing, who saw stock rise approximately 500% during his nearly eight year tenure.

Criticism of CEO Selection The letter highlighted that the appointment of Heidi O’Neill, a near 30 year veteran of Nike, as the new CEO creates an unnecessarily challenging start, with the stock declining 15% on April 22, 2026, following the announcement…

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Chip Wilson Urges lululemon Shareholders to vote for Independent Board Nominees

Chip Wilson, founder of lululemon athletica and one of the company's largest shareholders, released a shareholder letter on April 29, 2026, urging investors to vote for his three independent board nominees at the company's 2026 Annual Meeting.

Unlock the rest of this story

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