Wilson Family May Sell $1.3 Billion Stake in Lululemon

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, who left the company in February, is reportedly interested in selling his family’s 14.2% stake in the yoga wear brand. Lululemon reported the potential sale in a regulatory filing yesterday.

If Wilson’s family does sell, their stake would be worth about $1.3 billion. The Wilson family launched a new company called Kit and Ace in Canada; it sells what it calls “technical cashmere,” a collection of luxury performance sportswear.

Chip Wilson issues a statement saying, “The prospectus supplement filed by Lululemon simply enables Chip Wilson to sell his shares in the future, if he chooses to do so, on the same basis as any other stockholder.”
Wilson left his position as chief innovation and branding officer in 2012 to go on a sabbatical in Australia. The company brought him back the next year to deal with the infamous see-through yoga pants debacle, but he stepped down as chairman of the board in December 2013 after several uncouth comments about what body types were and were not appropriate for yoga pants.