Chip Wilson

About Chip Wilson

Who is it?: Chairman, Lululemon Athletica
Birth Year: 1956
Birth Place: Vancouver, Canada, Canada
Residence: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater: University of Calgary (B.A.)
Occupation: Founder of Lululemon Athletica
Spouse(s): Shannon Wilson

Chip Wilson

Chip Wilson was born on 1956 in Vancouver, Canada, Canada, is Chairman, Lululemon Athletica. Chip Wilson, the founder and former CEO of Lululemon, opened Lululemon's first store in Vancouver in 2000. He took the firm public in 2007, but stepped down as the chairman in late 2013 and stepped away from the business completely in 2015 after a series of controversies. In 2013, Wilson's blaming Lululemon's too sheer pants on women's body types caused an uproar among fans. Although Wilson has no management role in Lululemon, he remains its biggest individual shareholder. He advises Kit and Ace, a creation of his wife and son that sells washable cashmere-like clothing.
Chip Wilson is a member of Fashion & Retail

Some Chip Wilson images

Awards and nominations:

In 2014, Wilson and his wife, Shannon Wilson, received honorary doctorates from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. One year later, they received honorary doctorates from the Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Biography/Timeline

1956

Wilson, born in 1956, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Calgary in 1980. He has five sons, two from his first marriage, to Nancy, 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, BC.

1979

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. As of 2016, his personal and Business interests are maintained through Hold It All Inc.

2004

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

2005

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

2007

In 2007, Wilson and his wife, Shannon Wilson, launched imagine1day, a charity dedicated to improving education conditions in Ethiopia. The organization's goal is for all Ethiopians to have access to quality education free of foreign aid funding by 2030. As of June 2016, imagine1day had 487 partner schools, 35 of them built from the ground up by its team. Also, 1,130 school clubs had been created, with half run by girls. 66,420 books, 180 science kits, and 160 Sports sets had been provided to students. Imagine1day estimates that over 252,000 lives are transformed annually through its education and training.

2013

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

2014

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 5 km for runners and walkers on a scenic route through Queen Elizabeth Park and a 1 km fun run, followed by a carnival celebration. Proceeds support British Columbia's Children's Hospital and its fight against childhood cancer. In 2014, the run had over 6,000 participants and raised over $1 million.

2015

Wilson appeared in a CBS interview in 2015 where he apologized for past statements regarding the Lululemon yoga pant scandal, saying, "I'm responsible for what comes out of my mouth. And if that's what was interpreted then I fully apologize. Yeah. I'm sorry."

2016

In June 2016, Wilson published an open letter to shareholders of Lululemon stating that Lululemon had "lost its way" and given up market share to Nike and Under Armour, after he was denied the opportunity to speak at the company's annual meetings.

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