By Connor Hart
Lululemon Athletica is urging its shareholders to vote against the slate of directors nominated by founder Chip Wilson, saying he has outdated perspectives about how to position the athletic-apparel retailer moving forward.
Lululemon's push came after Wilson earlier this month escalated his proxy fight against the company, outlining a series of pillars he said its board has neglected, such as focusing on core consumers, improving merchandising and in-store execution, and increasing marketing and product-development spending.
Wilson, who is also Lululemon's biggest active investor, previously nominated three directors for Lululemon's board: Marc Maurer, Laura Gentile and Eric Hirshberg. The three picks are former executives from the shoe company On Holding, ESPN and video-game producer Activision Publishing.
Lululemon on Monday said Wilson's latest salvo is damaging to the brand and harmful to the stakeholders he claims to represent.
"Electing any of Mr. Wilson's nominees would endorse his misguided perspectives, significantly downgrade the board's skills and expertise, and jeopardize the ability of the leadership team and our incoming CEO to effectively build on and accelerate lululemon's ongoing action plan at a critical time for the business," the company said.
Lululemon said it has discussed potential settlement terms with Wilson, and that the company has been disappointed by Wilson's unwillingness to collaborate. In a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the company said Wilson in his counterproposal to the settlement reneged on previously agreed upon terms, as well as further increased his demands.
Lululemon reiterated its belief that it has taken decisive steps to address its recent performance concerns, and that it has the right team in place to advance its goals, deliver on the company's full potential and drive shareholder value.
The company urged shareholders to vote for the board members it has up for election--Chip Bergh, Esi Eggleston Bracey and Teri List--calling them "vastly superior to Wilson's nominees."
Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2026 08:40 ET (12:40 GMT)
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