Dennis J. Wilson was born on 1 January 1956, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and better known as Chip Wilson, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist, best known as the founder of the athletic apparel company Lululemon, and widely credited with starting the ‘athleisure’ retail category.
A skillful businessman, how wealthy is Chip Wilson? Sources state that Wilson has amassed a fortune of over $2.3 billion, as of early 2017. His assets include a Bombardier Global Express jet and four homes, among which is his $54 million custom-built 30,000-square foot Vancouver house, which is the most expensive home in British Columbia. His wealth has been acquired largely through his involvement in Lululemon.
Chip Wilson Net Worth $2.3 Billion
Wilson attended the University of Calgary in Alberta, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. In 1979 he launched his first business venture, an outwear company called Westbeach Snowboard Ltd., offering clothing custom made for the emerging snow, skate and surf boarding markets. He served as the company’s CEO from 1980 to 1995, and as its head of design and production from 1995 to 1997, which enabled him to earn a sizable income. He sold Westbeach Snowboard in 1997 and decided to start another company.
A year later, a yoga-inspired clothing company called Lulemon Athletica, Inc. was born, offering a number of different types of athletic wear. The business grew rapidly, opening more and more stores, both in Canada and abroad. By 2005, the company was valued at $225 million, greatly contributing to Wilson’s net worth.
The same year Chip sold a 48% minority stake, and resigning from his position as CEO. In 2008 Lululemon reached $350 million in sales in 113 stores, and over the next few years, Wilson’s Yoga-wear brand expanded into a $100-billion a year global business, making him a very rich man. He served as the company’s chief innovation and branding officer until 2012, retaining his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors for one more year. Then, in 2014, he sold more than 13% of his shares in Lululemon to a private equity firm for approximately $845 million, becoming the 17th richest man in Canada according to Forbes. His wealth was certainly boosted. The following year he ended his involvement in the company’s operations by stepping down from the company’s Board of Directors.
Since then, Wilson has launched a holding company called Hold It All, Inc., through which he has organized his diverse interests, personal vision and values. This includes Kit and Ace, an international clothing and retail enterprise creating and selling clothes made of machine-washable technical cashmere. The company was founded in 2014 by Wilson’s wife, who had been a founding designer at Lululemon, and his eldest son. Wilson serves as the company’s adviser. Low Tide Properties, a real estate investment firm, is another member of Hold It All, Inc., as well as the mobile app called whil, created as a tool to improve the quality of life.
When it comes to his personal life, Wilson has been married twice, firstly to Nancy, with whom he has two children. He later married Shannon Wilson, with whom he has three children.
The entrepreneur is involved in philanthropy; along with his wife, he has founded a non-profit organization called Imagina1Day, focused on bringing quality education to Ethiopia. In 2013 the couple donated $12 million to help fund a new $36-million school of design, Chip and Shannon Wilson School of Design, at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, with the goal of helping students gain a range of performance, technical apparel and product design sectors. The Wilsons are also leading sponsors of Child Run, a Vancouver annual family run to raise funds for British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital and their fight against childhood cancer.
Wilson has been involved in several controversies, most often for his statements, such as the 2013 yoga pants scandal. Reportedly, the Lululemon black yoga tights were criticized for being see-through, which led Wilson to blame the body types of some women who wear it, causing considerable outrage with his statement.
