How Lululemon's founder is looking to restore investor faith as a new CEO is picked

By Tomi Kilgore Founder and major shareholder Chip Wilson doesn't trust the current board to pick a new CEO, so he's nominating three new directors Lululemon founder and large shareholder Chip Wilson is looking to restore investor faith in the yoga-gear maker by changing the makeup of the board of directors. Lululemon founder Dennis "Chip" Wilson is making noise again, launching a proxy battle to put his stamp on the struggling yoga-gear retailer as it looks for new leadership. Wilson, who resigned from Lululemon's (LULU) board a decade ago, isn't looking to get back on, but on Monday he said he was nominating three director candidates in an effort to "restore shareholder confidence." His move comes weeks after the company said its current chief executive, Calvin McDonald, was leaving at the end of January, something that was cheered by investors, analysts, and Wilson, along with another activist investor - Elliott Investment Management. Elliott, which has reportedly built a stake of more than $1 billion in Lululemon, is pushing for its own CEO candidate, former Ralph Lauren executive Jane Nielsen. While Wilson was happy the company was pushing out its CEO, he said that the way it was done, without a clear succession plan in place, was another failure. He wants to change the makeup of the board, which currently has 10 directors, because he believes investors "have no faith" in the current board's ability to choose, and support, the next CEO. Wilson still carries a lot of weight at the company. The latest filings show he owns 9.9 million Lululemon shares, or 8.4% of the shares outstanding. That makes him the second-largest shareholder, according to FactSet data. The stock rose 0.8% in recent morning trading on Monday, to reverse an earlier intraday loss of as much as 0.9%. While it has run up 14.4% in December, it has still tumbled 44.9% in 2025 as it has suffered from growing competition and brand erosion. Read: Another Lululemon bull jumps ship. Here's why the troubles are far from over "The Board must be refreshed so that creative, brand-first experience is empowered," Wilson said in a statement. "This is the only way to restore shareholder confidence and set Lululemon back on the path to growth, product innovation and premium quality." His picks for the board are Marc Maurer, former co-CEO of On Holding (ONON); Laura Gentile, a former chief marketing officer at ESPN; and Eric Hirshberg, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard's Activision business, the company's largest. Wilson has also submitted a proposal that calls for the board to immediately declassify, so that all directors are elected annually by shareholders. He said currently only about 10% of S&P 500 companies - Lululemon is an S&P 500 index SPX component - have "staggered" director elections, as Lululemon does. -Tomi Kilgore This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 12-29-25 1105ET