Chip Wilson

Dennis J. "Chip" Wilson (born April 25, 1955) is an American-born Canadian businessman, investor, and philanthropist who has founded several retail apparel companies, most notably the yoga-inspired athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. Wilson is widely regarded as the progenitor and a pioneering figure of the athleisure phenomenon, in which the trend has permeated mainstream North American society since its emergence in 2014.

Wilson was born in San Diego, California, in 1955.

Both of his parents were athletes at college, and his father later on was a physical education teacher.

Wilson is listed on the Forbes World Billionaires List, currently ranked the 574th richest person in the world.

He is also credited by Business Insider and Forbes as being the 8th richest person in Canada.

Wilson is a partner with Anta Sports, a sportswear company based in Jinjiang China, with whom he purchased Amer Sports after looking to acquire Amer on his own.

Wilson acquired a 20.65% stake in the joint venture that acquired Amer, along with Anta and FountainVest Partners.

While no longer the CEO of Lululemon, Wilson remains the largest individual shareholder in the company, with 10,955,225 shares or 8.75%, as of July 2, 2021.

In 1979, Wilson founded his first retail apparel company, Westbeach Snowboard Ltd, which sold apparel targeted at the surf, skate, and snowboard markets.

In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Calgary.

He sold Westbeach in 1997 and founded Lululemon Athletica Inc in 1998.

In 2004, Ernst & Young named Wilson its Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year for Innovation and Marketing.

Wilson served as CEO of Lululemon until 2005, when he sold a 48% stake 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 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.

, Forbes ranked Wilson the 10th-wealthiest Canadian and 401st in the world, with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion.

In January 2012, Wilson retired from his executive post as chief innovation and branding officer, but remained chairman of the board of directors.

In 2012, Wilson was named Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year by University of Victoria's Gustavson School of Business, with Gustavson stating that "Chip Wilson exemplifies the values of a visionary entrepreneur...We tell our students to do something they are passionate about. Chip is an excellent role model for them — he's built an enormously successful organization doing what he loves.”

In December 2013, he stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman.

In June 2014, Wilson raised concerns that the Lululemon board was not aligned with the core values of product and innovation on which the company was founded, and on which it thrived.

Six months after the board's reconstitution, the company's share price rose from a June 2014 low of $36.26 to $65.33, a change in market capitalization of over $4 billion.

In August 2014, Wilson sold 13.85% of his ownership in Lululemon to Advent for approximately $845 million.

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.

In February 2015, Wilson stepped down from Lululemon's 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."

In December 2015, in an interview with Bloomberg Business, Wilson said, "Three years ago, when I was chairman and Lululemon was worth twice as much as Under Armour, I personally was thinking of buying Under Armour."

In 2016, he organized his personal and business interests into the Vancouver based holding company Hold It All Inc.

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

In June 2016, Wilson published an open letter to shareholders of Lululemon stating that it 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.

In 2016, Wilson created Hold It All, a holding company that includes Wilson Capital, Wilson 5 Foundation, and Low Tide Properties, with a vision to "create possibilities for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives."

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.

In 2018, Wilson was inducted into the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame.

In 2019, Wilson sold millions of shares while the stock rallied, further reducing his stake in the company.

Wilson has five sons, two from his first marriage to Nancy Herb.

He is married to Shannon Wilson, who is one of the original designers of Lululemon and co-founder of Kit and Ace with his son JJ Wilson.

They reside in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Wilson was diagnosed with a subtype of muscular dystrophy called facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy at age 32.

He has donated 100 million Canadian dollars towards research.