Athleisure brand Lululemon is seeking a new Chief Executive Officer. According to a statement from the company, Laurent Potdevin has resigned as CEO and as a member of the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately.
The reason for the sudden leave is a murky one: Per the statement, Potdevin "fell short of [Lululemon's] standards of conduct." The statement does not reveal what conduct the company is specifically referring to.
Glenn Murphy, Executive Chairman of the Board, thanked Potdevin for his work within the official statement.
"While this was a difficult and considered decision, the Board thanks Laurent for his work in strengthening the company and positioning it for the future," said Murphy. "Culture is at the core of Lululemon, and it is the responsibility of leaders to set the right tone in our organization. Protecting the organization's culture is one of the Board's most important duties."
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The company revealed in their statement that they are actively looking for a new CEO to fill Potdevin's shoes. In the meantime, three senior leaders at the company will step in and take on new responsibilities.
Despite Potdevin's alleged misconduct within the workplace, he will reportedly receive a very large severance package of $5 million dollars. Per CNBC, Potdevin will first receive a cash payment of $3.35 million, and then be paid $1.65 million in equal installments over the next 18 months.
Lululemon is best known for its yoga-appropriate workout gear, specifically advertised towards women. Back in September of 2017, however, Potdevin talked about how Lululemon was expanding its customer reach to better serve their male guests.
"In so many ways, we're still like a best-kept secret for men, but 30 percent of our new guests are men," Potdevin revealed in an interview with CNBC. "Anecdotally, in my three and a half years at Lululemon, I've met a lot of guys that don't know that we have men's products, but I've never met a guy that, after trying our product, said, 'It's not for me.'"
Refinery29 has reached out to representatives at Lululemon for comment and will update this post should we hear back.
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