Lululemon Adds Former On, ESPN Execs to Board to Resolve Founder Fight

Lululemon will add to its board of directors a former On executive and the person who founded ESPN’s women-focused business to end a monthslong dispute with its polarizing founder Chip Wilson.

Under the deal, Lululemon will appoint to its board Marc Maurer, the recently departed co-CEO of Swiss sneaker brand On, as well as Laura Gentile, ESPN’s former chief marketing officer who founded espnW. They will formally join the board following Lululemon’s upcoming annual meeting of shareholders, on June 25. Lululemon has also pledged to add an additional board member with “product and brand expertise in apparel” to its board by Oct. 1 of this year.

Eric Hirshberg, former CEO of videogame giant Activision and the third person Wilson put forth, will not be added to the board.

Wilson—the 71-year-old founder of Lululemon who resigned from the Canadian company’s board of directors in 2015 but retained a roughly 8.7% stake—has agreed not to disparage the business for roughly 18 months. 

“The Board additions lululemon announced today and strategic changes already made by the team reflect meaningful progress toward restoring the company’s product-first vision and unlocking tremendous value for shareholders,” Wilson said in Wednesday’s press release.

Lululemon executive chair Marti Morfitt said the deal “allows lululemon to focus on continuing to strengthen its performance.”

The market reacted positively to the news, with Lululemon shares up more than 3% Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement ends a roughly five-month saga. In December Wilson said the company was in dire need of a board shake-up. He pressed shareholders to elect his nominees, who he said would bring “visionary creative leadership” needed so the company could “win back the confidence of its critical stakeholders and regain commercial momentum.”

In March, Lululemon posted net revenue of $11.1 billion for 2025, up 5% from the prior year, and said it expects 2026 net revenue to be between $11.35 billion and $11.5 billion, slightly below average analyst estimates. The company also at that time announced a new board member, former Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh.

One headache is gone, but another remains. Lululemon was sued on March 27 by a group of consumers who say they are owed a portion of the “hundreds of millions” of dollars in tariff refunds the company is supposed to get through its own lawsuit against the federal government.

A representative for Lululemon did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment, and Wilson could not immediately be reached.