Chip Wilson

Dennis J. "Chip" Wilson (born 1956) is a Canadian businessman who has founded several retail apparel companies, most notably yoga-inspired athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. (TSX: LLL, NASDAQ: LULU), commonly referred to as Lululemon.^[1]

Business Ventures

In 1979 Wilson founded his first retail apparel company, Westbeach Snowboard Ltd., which sold apparel targeted at the surf, skate, and snowboard markets. Wilson went on to sell Westbeach in 1997 and founded Lululemon Athletica Inc. in 1998.^[2]

Wilson served as CEO of lululemon until 2005, when he sold a 48% minority stake in lululemon to private equity firms Advent International ^[3] and Highland Capital Partners.^[4] In 2007 an initial IPO was offered by Lululemon Athletica Inc. on Canadian and US exchanges.^[5] In January 2012, Wilson retired from his executive post as chief innovation and branding officer but remains chairman of the board of directors.^[4] In December 2013, Wilson stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman.^[6]

On June 11, 2014, Wilson raised his concerns that the lululemon athletica Board was not aligned with the core values of product and innovation on which lululemon was founded and on which the company thrived.^[7] Six months after the board reconstitution the company’s share price boosted from a June 2014 low of $36.26 to $65.33 — a change in market capitalization of over $4 billion.^[8]

On August 7, 2014, lululemon athletica inc. and Wilson facilitated Advent's re-enengagement in lululemon by selling 13.85% ownership in the company to Advent for approximately $845 million.^[9] The transaction received the full support of the lululemon Board of Directors and changes the board dynamic. Advent Managing Partner David M. Mussafer and Managing Director Steven J. Collins will be appointed to lululemon's Board of Directors, expanding the Board from 10 to 12 members. Mr. Mussafer will now share Chairman responsibilities with Michael Casey. Lululemon will also engage an independent expert to evaluate and make recommendations regarding the lululemon Board's committees, policies and procedures over the course of 90 days following the completion of Advent's stock purchase.^[10][11]

In February 2015, Wilson stepped down from the lululemon athletica Board of Directors saying, “I have achieved the goals I set when I came back, and after careful thought, I believe that now is the right time to step away from the board. I leave behind a new and talented management team and new board construct.” ^[12]

Personal life

Wilson, born in 1956,^[13] graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary in 1980.^[14] He has five sons, two from Wilson’s first marriage to Nancy,^[15] and is married to Shannon Wilson, one of the original designers of lululemon and Co-founder of Kit and Ace along with his son JJ Wilson. They reside in Vancouver, B.C.

In 2004 Ernst & Young named Wilson as "Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year for Innovation and Marketing".^[16] As of 2012 Forbes ranked Wilson as the 10th wealthiest Canadian and 401st in the world, with an estimated net worth as of March 2013 of $2.9 billion.^[17]

In 2014, Wilson and his wife, Shannon Wilson, received honorary doctorates from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.^[18]

Imagine1day

In 2007 Wilson, along with his wife Shannon Wilson, launched imagine1day, a charity dedicated to improving education conditions in Ethiopia. The organization’s goal is that all Ethiopians have access to quality education funded free of foreign aid by 2030.^[19] As of December 2014, Imagine1Day had 227 partner schools with 27 of those built from the ground up by its team. Also, 615 school clubs have been created with half run by girls. 33,000 books, 77 science kits, & 100 sports sets have been provided to the students. Imagine1Day estimates that over 103k lives are transformed annually through their education & training.^[20]

Whil

Chip and his wife Shannon Wilson co-founded a meditation blog, whil.com, in 2013. In July 2014, the blog's assets were sold to entrepreneur Joe Burton. Chip and Shannon are the lead investors in the new whil (a full service digital health & wellness platform focused on bringing mindfulness to the world) launching in March 2015.

Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design

The Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design at Kwantlen Polytechnic University ^[21] is a $36 million project. Chip and Shannon Wilson pledged $12 million ^[22] to the School with the goal of solidifying the future of BC’s technical apparel industry. Lululemon, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and the Province of British Columbia serve as additional financial partners. The school broke ground in Fall 2013 and will include new teaching studios, gallery space for student exhibitions and a “usability lab” where students can design, prototype, and market product concepts. The school is scheduled to open in 2015 and is expected to increase the overall number of design students by 57 percent.^[23]

Child Run

Chip and Shannon Wilson are leading sponsors of the annual Child Run. The Child Run is the largest family fun run in Vancouver, with a 5K for runners and walkers on a scenic route through Queen Elizabeth Park and a 1K fun run, followed by a carnival celebration. Proceeds support British Columbia's Children's Hospital and their fight against childhood cancer. In 2014, the run had over 6,000 participants and raised over $1 million.^[24]

Criticism

Controversial Statements

Wilson attracted controversy for saying, in 2005, that he might tolerate child labour in developing countries as an alternative to absolute poverty. Speaking of 12- and 13-year-old street beggars, he said employment might be a preferable option: "I look at it the same way the WTO (World Trade Organization) does it, and that is that the single easiest way to spread wealth around the world is to have poor countries pull themselves out of poverty"^[25] claimed that cigarette smoking and the birth control pill led to high divorce rates and the prominence of breast cancer in the 1990s, and that all these factors led to the founding of Lululemon,^[26] and that his company does not make clothes for plus-size women because it costs too much money.^[27]

Wilson also blamed excessive pilling in yoga pants on customers themselves, saying "Frankly some women's bodies just don't actually work for it." and "They don't work for some women's bodies...it's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it."^[28] These comments led to Wilson's resignation as Lululemon's Board Chairman in 2013.^[29]

Stephen Colbert mention

Wilson was the subject of the Stephen Colbert show's segment "Alpha Dog of the Week", on November 18, 2013, where Mr. Colbert sarcastically criticized the CEO for his views on the influence of birth control and for having said that women's bodies "just actually don't work" for his company's pants.^[30]

References