Lululemon Athletica Inc.‘s founder says Tuesday’s announcement that a longtime board member won’t stand for re-election is “a step in the right direction,” but his replacement is “underwhelming.”
Chip Wilson is pleased David Mussafer will step away from the Vancouver-based apparel retailer’s board after 14 years but said Wednesday that he still feels “glaring governance deficiencies remain.”
For starters, Wilson said the board still has three directors tied to a private equity firm led by Mussafer. Wilson has said the chairman and managing partner of private equity firm Advent International Corp. “long impeded change” at Lululemon.
He said he expects Mussafer to step back from any involvement in new board appointments.
“It would be highly unusual and inappropriate for a retiring director to be guiding or actively involved in strategic matters,” Wilson said in a Wednesday statement.
Wilson built Lululemon into an athleisure juggernaut and fashion status symbol for much of the 2000s, but it has struggled in recent years to keep up with trends, generate the same excitement as competitors Alo and Vuori and stop the erosion of its stock price.
Though Wilson hasn’t been an executive or board member for years and is estranged from the retailer, he still holds some of its stock.
Wilson began pushing for an overhaul at the company around the same time that former Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald announced that he would step down at the end of January.
Wilson thinks Lululemon could improve itself by appointing three nominees he suggested — On Holding AG co-chief executive Marc Maurer, former ESPN chief marketing officer Laura Gentile and former Activision chief executive Eric Hirshberg — to the board.
However, Lululemon, which has yet to comment on Wilson’s latest criticisms, has accused him of preventing it from interviewing his suggested board members by demanding the company sign an agreement before it proceeds. It has not outlined what terms it alleges Wilson is requesting.
On Tuesday, it appointed former Levi Strauss & Co. president and CEO Chip Bergh to the board to replace Mussafer, effective immediately.
Wilson wasn’t impressed by Bergh’s appointment because he said the new board member led several companies that struggled for years compared to their peers.
Prior to joining Levi Strauss & Co., Lululemon said Bergh spent 28 years at Procter & Gamble and has been part of HP Inc., e.l.f. Beauty Inc. and Pinterest Inc.‘s boards.
Wilson felt Bergh’s appointment was also underwhelming because the Lululemon board had indicated highly qualified directors declined to stand for nomination until the company’s ongoing proxy battle is over.
As Wilson’s attacks on Lululemon continue, the company is still in search of a replacement for McDonald, who is set to take the helm of beauty conglomerate Wella Co. in April.
Lululemon chief financial officer Meghan Frank and chief commercial officer André Maestrini are splitting the CEO role on an interim basis.
BNP Paribas equity research senior analyst Laurent Vasilescu said investors were hoping a CEO would be named Tuesday considering McDonald’s departure announcement was made on Dec. 11.
Vasilescu doesn’t think Bergh will be in contention for the role because he retired a few years ago, but the analyst pointed out in a note to investors that Bergh “does have deep expertise on turnarounds from when he joined Levi’s in the early 2010s.”
Vasilescu thinks Jane Nielsen, Ralph Lauren’s ex-chief financial officer and chief operating officer and Coach’s former chief financial officer, would be a good fit for the job.
Activist investor Elliott Management, which has built a stake of more than US$1 billion in Lululemon, has been pushing for Nielsen to be given the role for roughly as long as Wilson has been crusading for change.
“Lulu needs not a growth CEO but a turnaround CEO and we think Jane Nielsen has the right qualities and credentials,” Vasilescu said.
He believes the company may be coming to the same realization because Frank and Maestrini didn’t use Lululemon’s earnings call Tuesday to reiterate the board’s previous comments on a search for a “growth and transformation” CEO.
“Could the board be reassessing these qualities?” Vasilescu questioned.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2026.
