Lululemon Athletica Inc. Founder Chip Wilson stepped down from Lululemon's board of directors Feb. 2 after taking credit for restoring $4 billion in value by forcing through changes on the board of directors and in management.
Wilson founded Lululemon in Vancouver, BC in 1998, took it public in 2007 and led it from $274.7 million to $1 billion in sales over the next five years. He stepped away from management in January 2012, when he left his position as chief innovation and branding officer and began a sabbatical in Australia. A year later, he announced plans to start liquidating some of his 29.7 percent stake in the company. Those plans were put on hold, however, in the spring of 2013, when LULU's board requested he return from Australia to help deal with the fallout from an embarrassing recall of the Luon yoga pant that ended up costing the company $60 million in sales andits status as a darling of Wall Street.
Wilson, however, ended up launching a public campaign last year to oust several board members he said were killing the culture that make Lululemon so successful. He ultimately reached an agreement in August, 2014 to sell half his stake in LULU to Advent International, which he had partnered with to grow the company from 2005 to 2009, if LULU board would add two board seats and appoint Advent partners to fill them. LULU's board also agreed to review its corporate governance. Lululemon's market capitalization has since risen by more than $4 billion, or roughly 65 percent.
“Upon returning from Australia, I saw that the company had lost its way and was driven by the wrong values,” Wilson said in a statement released by LULU last week. “Trying to affect a fundamental shift in direction is hard and I had to raise a strong voice to make myself heard while taking decisive action to implement change. I am happy to say that I now believe the company has returned to the core values that made it great product, brand and culture and is back on track.”
Eager to turn the page, LULU's board also announced Stuart Haselden had replaced John Currie as CFO effective Feb. 2. Currie shepherded the company through five years of blistering growth following its IPO only to spend the last 22 months rebuilding the company's credibility with investors and analysts. He had announced his plans to retire last year.
