Chip Wilson Net Worth, Biography and Achievements

Chip Wilson Net Worth $2 Billion

US-born Canadian billionaire businessman, Chip Wilson, who is best known for founding several apparel companies widely considered to be the man who created the athleisure trend. He has been one of the strongest forces to reckon with the Canadian fashion industry over the past couple of decades.

In 2016, he structured his personal and business interests and organized them all under the umbrella company Hold It All Inc. Today, he is noted as one of the biggest players as long as fashion is concerned in North America. More details are below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Dennis J. Wilson in the year 1955 in San Diego, California, United States.

Some say that he took his interest in sports from his parents, who were athletes at college. His father also worked as a physical education teacher later in his life.

Wilson attended the University of Calgary in Canada and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics in the year 1980.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

A year before graduating from college, Wilson started his first retail apparel business, Westbeach Snowboard Ltd, which specialized in the sales of apparel targeted at snowboarding, surfing, and skate. He sold the company in 1997 and founded Lululemon Athletica Inc a year later. His business interests are managed through Hold It All Inc. as of this publication.

He maintained the role of a chief executive officer at Lululemon until 2005 when he sold 48 percent of the company to private equity firms Highland Capital Partners and Advent International. He retired from his executive role as chief innovation and branding officer in 2012 but continued to head the board of directors as its chair. In December 2013, he resigned from his role as non-executive chairman of the company.

In June 2014, Mr. Wilson raised concerns that the board of Lululemon was not aligned with the values of innovation on which the company was established, and on which it thrived.

Less than a year after the board’s reconstitution, the price of the company’s share rose from a low of $36.26 in June 2014 to $65.33, registering a change in market capitalization of more than 4 billion dollars. In August, Wilson sold 13.85 percent of his ownership in the company to Advent for the sum of $845 million. He stepped down from the board of directors in February of the following year.

His holding company, Hold It All, which he created in 2016, includes several of his personal and business interests, such as Low Tide Properties, Wilson Capital, and Wilson 5 Foundation.

Personal Life: Family, Private Interests, Relationships

Chip Wilson has been married two times. His first marriage was to Nancy, with whom he had two sons. He later married Shannon Wilson and has three sons with her. Shannon is one of the original designers of Lululemon. She is also co-founder of Kit and Ace, along with Chip’s son JJ Wilson.

Wilson and his family reside in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Wilson’s outstanding performances in the business world have been capable of winning him fame and prizes. He is also very wealthy, thanks to his successful career in the business industry where he made a series of investments that helped in shaping his fortunes.

He is currently ranked as one of the ten wealthiest Canadians in the world. This is of course a feat that only a few people of his era have been able to achieve. He is also listed by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s top 400 rich people.

His wealth aside, he has been recognized in the media on a couple of occasions and was a recipient of the 2004 Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year Award in recognition of his contributions to the business.

Chip Wilson Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

Born and raised in San Diego, California, residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Mr. Denis Wilson, who’s commonly known as Chip Wilson, currently has a fortune of 2 billion dollars.

The primary source of his wealth is his businesses, starting from his first company Westbeach Sports, a sportswear company that started selling surf and skate clothing in the United States and Canada in the 1970s. At age 19, he was employed by an engineering company to work on the Alaska pipeline for a payment of $100,000.

He paid for his university education with the funds and was able to also afford a home in Vancouver from which he started the Westbeach Sports company. His net worth makes it possible for him to be ranked as one of the world’s richest men. He is also featured on the top 10 richest Canadians list.