Lululemon names former Nike exec Heidi O'Neill as CEO

Lululemon named Heidi O'Neill its adjacent CEO pursuing a hunt by its committee of directors, tapping a seasoned of Nike to pb the diversion apparel institution done a play of slowing maturation and capitalist pressure.

Her astir caller presumption astatine Nike was president of consumer, merchandise and brand, with work spanning planetary merchandise development, marque strategy, and marketing. During her much than two-decade vocation astatine Nike, the company's gross expanded dramatically, scaling into a planetary marque worthy tens of billions of dollars. Earlier successful her career, she held a selling relation focused connected the Dockers marque astatine Levi Strauss & Co., and she presently sits connected the boards of Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels, and Lithia & Driveway.

O'Neill volition commencement connected Sept. 8 and volition beryllium based successful Vancouver, the institution said. Her basal wage volition beryllium $1.4 million, according to CNBC.

Until O'Neill formally takes the helm, co-CEOs Meghan Frank and André Maestrini are holding down the business, and Lululemon said some executives are expected to resume their anterior elder roles erstwhile she arrives.

"lululemon is an iconic marque with thing rare: genuine impermanent love, a merchandise ethos rooted successful innovation, and a planetary level inactive successful the aboriginal stages of its potential," O'Neill said successful a statement. "As I measurement into the CEO relation successful September, my occupation volition beryllium to physique connected that instauration — to accelerate merchandise breakthroughs, deepen the brand's taste relevance, and unlock maturation successful markets astir the world."

Lululemon banal fell much than 5% successful extended trading pursuing the announcement. The banal had dropped much than 21% truthful acold this twelvemonth arsenic of Wednesday's close, according to Fortune.

O'Neill steps into the relation astatine a hard moment: the institution has flagged $380 cardinal successful expected tariff costs for the year, according to CNBC, portion besides facing sluggish request and intensifying rivalry from competitors. Adding to the pressure, activistic steadfast Elliott Investment Management has amassed a presumption valued astatine implicit $1 cardinal successful Lululemon's shares, according to Fortune, portion Wilson — who retains a large ownership involvement contempt holding nary ceremonial institution relation — has publically agitated for board-level changes.

Her Nike grounds carries immoderate baggage, according to CNBC: she was a cardinal fig successful the brand's ill-fated displacement toward selling straight to consumers — a determination that Elliott Hill, present moving Nike, has prioritized unwinding — and her ticker implicit merchandise and innovation coincided with wide disapproval that the institution had grown excessively babelike connected a fistful of classical sneaker styles.

According to Fortune, Calvin McDonald's eight-year tally astatine the apical of Lululemon came to an extremity successful January, erstwhile helium exited the CEO position.