Lululemon has responded publicly to its founder Chip Wilson after months of criticism from him, accusing him of harboring long-standing resentment toward the company he built and left behind.
According to a report by MarketWatch, the athletic apparel company said Wilson has coveted the company since he departed and that his vision of the brand appears to be frozen in time. The pushback marks an unusual moment for a major publicly traded company, which typically avoids direct confrontations with founders in such pointed terms.
Wilson has been a persistent critic of Lululemon's current direction for several months, raising concerns publicly about the company's strategic decisions and brand positioning. The company's response signals that leadership has decided to confront those attacks directly rather than continue to absorb them without comment.
Lululemon did not provide additional detail about the specific criticisms it was responding to in the report, but the company's language was direct in framing Wilson's position as one driven by personal grievance rather than informed analysis of where the brand stands today.
