Lululemon's Chip Wilson named one of world's richest people

Sep 6 2018, 4:25 am

Chip Wilson, the founder of Vancouver-based Lululemon Athletica Inc. has cracked the list of the world’s 500 richest people in Bloomberg’s latest “Billionaires Index.”

According to Bloomberg, the athletic-wear company “climbed to a record after beating Wall Street’s net sales estimates for the eighth quarter in a row on Thursday and raising its full-year revenue and profit projections.”

The result added, “$311 million to Wilson’s fortune on Friday and a further $41 million on Tuesday to leave him with a $3.9 billion fortune.” This was good enough to land Wilson the 496th spot on the list.

Bloomberg noted, however, that Wilson hasn’t been overly involved with the company’s operations as of late.

While the 62-year-old Wilson still owns a 13% stake in the company, Bloomberg  noted in their report that he “stepped down from the board in 2015, two years after resigning as chairman following an interview on Bloomberg Television in which he said Lululemon’s pants “don’t work for some women’s bodies.'” Bloomberg said Wilson apologized for the remark a week later.

Other Canadians on the list this year included:

  • Joseph Tsai – Alibaba Group co-founder;
  • Galen Weston – chairman emeritus of George Weston, the largest Loblaw Companies shareholder;
  • Sherry Brydson – the largest shareholder of WoodBridge, a firm that controls Thompson Reuters;
  • Arthur Irving – owns an estimated two-thirds of Irving Oil, which operates gas stations and oil refineries;
  • Jeff Skoll – founder and chairman of Participant Media, a movie and television production company based in Beverly Hills;
  • Peter Thomson – co-chairman of WoodBridge;
  • Jim Pattison – owns Jim Pattison Group, a conglomerate with $10.1 billion of revenue in 2017. The company is the largest car dealer in western Canada.
See also
DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

+ News
+ Venture
ADVERTISEMENT