Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and his wife, Shannon "Summer" Wilson, are parting ways after 20 years of marriage, with reports indicating they have no prenuptial agreement. The 71-year-old self-made billionaire, valued at $6.1 billion, and his 52-year-old wife have been embroiled in family litigation proceedings before the British Columbia Supreme Court since April, Bloomberg reports.
Details of the court proceedings are yet to come out, making it unclear how the two will split their assets. The pair, who got married in 2002, had been business partners. According to her husband, Shannon was the founder's lead designer and one of the first employees of the athleisure company. He says she played a significant role in taking the company from zero to its current position as a $15.5 billion enterprise.
Chip owns an 8.6% equity share in Lululemon, which is worth close to $1 billion, while Shannon has a 1% share worth about $100 million. Meanwhile, he also has around 18% in Amer Sports, a Finland-based company that owns brands such as Arc'teryx, worth more than $3 billion.
The couple's divorce is happening amid a sharp decline in the shares of Lululemon, which plunged 19.5% on the New York Stock Exchange after the firm's downward forecast on the full-year earnings and Q2 results. Wilson stepped down as chairman in 2013 after controversial comments about plus-sized women and has continued to criticise the brand's direction, referring to it as "bland" and criticising its diversity initiatives.