Business

Loose-lipped ‘Lulu’ founder voted to oust his replacement

Chip Wilson built his fortune on yoga, but that doesn’t mean he wants to chill out.

The controversial fitness freak has picked a public fight with Lululemon, the yoga retailer he founded in 1998, disclosing Wednesday that he voted to oust the executive who succeeded him as chairman.

Wilson, the biggest shareholder with a 28-percent stake, said he voted against the re-election of Chairman Michael Casey, a former Starbucks exec, as well as outside director RoAnn Costin, a Boston-based private-equity manager.

In a statement that caught Wall Street off-guard, Wilson cited “a palpable imbalance in board representation, which is heavily weighted  toward short-term results at the expense of product, culture and brand and longer-term corporate goals.”

Chip WilsonReuters

Wilson, who agreed to step down as chairman after a series of gaffes last year, didn’t elaborate. The company declined to comment. Despite Wilson’s vote, Casey and Costin were reelected along with the rest of the board at the Lululemon’s annual shareholder meeting Wednesday.

Wilson has kept a board seat, but one source said his fellow directors are “totally aligned” against him in the brewing battle. Last fall, the board named Laurent Potdevin, a French luxury vet, to replace chief Christine Day.

“The role of the board is to hire management, and management executes the strategy,” the source said. “Chip’s view is a little different — that the board should be running the company.”

Last year, Wilson got pilloried in the press after suggesting that some women are too big to wear Lululemon’s workout clothes.

The issue had surfaced when the company was forced to recall yoga pants that were so sheer they became see-through when wearers bent over.

Shares were off 2.6 percent, or $1.18, to $44.30.