Billionaire Lululemon Founder Pledges $75.8 Million To Protect Canada’s Wilderness

Topline

Chip Wilson, the billionaire founder of athleisure giant Lululemon Athletica, announced Thursday he and his wife, Summer, have pledged $75.8 million—a bit less than 2% of his net worth—toward buying hundreds of acres of wilderness to protect in their native Canada.

Key Facts

Their donation will go toward the B.C. Parks Foundation to help advance the group’s goal to protect 25% of British Columbia’s land and sea by 2025, the Wilsons said during a press conference Thursday.

The Wilsons’ funds will be used to purchase forests in British Columbia along with mining, forestry and other resources licenses to turn “massive amounts of land” into parks that indigenous groups can manage and profit from through tourism, Wilson told Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

The B.C. Parks Foundation has already earmarked some of the funds to protect spaces like Falling Creek Sanctuary, a 528-acre space in the northeastern part of British Columbia., the foundation said in a statement.

Wilson told Bloomberg he and his wife–who reside in Vancouver–hope the Canadian government, businesses and other philanthropists will consider matching their donation.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Wilson is worth $5.7 billion, most of which comes from his stake in Lululemon.

Tangent

The Wilsons follow the much bigger announcement from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who said Wednesday he is transferring ownership of his company to trusts and nonprofits that will redirect all of Patagonia’s future profits toward fighting climate change, which will cost him his billionaire status.

Key Background

Wilson founded Lululemon in 2000 with a Vancouver brick-and-mortar location and took the growing company public in 2007. He stepped down as chairman in 2013 after his comments that Lululemon’s famous stretchy pants “just don’t actually work” for some women’s bodies, sparked public backlash. Wilson removed himself from the company in 2015, though he retains about 8% of the Lululemon shares, making him the largest individual shareholder.

Further Reading

Lululemon Billionaire Pledges $76 Million to Protect Wilderness (Bloomberg)