It just gets worse from there. Wilson alienated Canadian businessmen when, according to people who attended a Business Alliance of Local Living Economies in Vancouver, Wilson told delegates that children should be allowed to work in factories because they get wages as a result. He also said 12- and 13- year-olds in Canada should be allowed to find work in local factories, instead of collecting handouts. "I look at it the same way the [World Trade Organization] does it, and that is that the single easiest way to spread wealth around the world is to have poor countries pull themselves out of poverty," Wilson said (via The Tyee).
And when his core group of loyal customers began complaining about clumps of fuzz or pilling after a few years, Wilson brushed it off with more body shaming comments: "They don't work for some women's bodies ... it's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it." (via Business Insider)
After Lululemon spent too much time in the spotlight for its founder's tactless remarks, he resigned as the company's chairman in 2013 and left the board altogether in 2015 (via CNBC). Today, Forbes says Wilson is the executive director for his family holding company, Hold It All, which manages real estate and private equity holdings, including shares of Lululemon stock — which constitutes a majority of his fortune.
