Laurent Potdevin recently stepped down from his position as CEO of sportswear company Lululemon Athletica, Inc.
In a statement released last Monday, Lululemon announced Potdevin's resignation from his position effective immediately, stating that the company "expects all employees to exemplify the highest levels of integrity and respect for one another" and that Potdevin "fell short of these standards of conduct." On a day when U.S. stocks were suffering a general downswing, Lululemon's stock dropped an additional 3% following the announcement.
Lululemon has been notably vague in its language around Potdevin's resignation, leaving it unclear how the now-former CEO had failed to meet the company's standards of conduct. According to a report by CNBC, Potdevin, who has served as CEO of Lululemon for the last four years, allegedly had been in a years-long relationship with a female designer employed by the company. The designer left her full-time position with the company in 2014, but continued to work as a contractor for Lululemon. Sources within the company say that this relationship is one of the factors that led to Potdevin's departure, though there were other conduct issues that also contributed to the decision.
Potdevin joined Lululemon in January 2014, taking over the position from the company's founder Chip Wilson, who stepped down from his position after a scandal erupted around his comments regarding his company's recalled yoga pants. Potdevin had previously served as an executive for Burton Snowboards for a decade and as the company's CEO for five years, before taking over leadership of the shoe company Toms as its president in 2011.
Though Potdevin's departure was unexpected, he is not leaving empty-handed. An SEC filing by the company shows that Lululemon has agreed to pay Potdevin a total of $5 million in his severance package, with a lump sum of $3.35 million to be paid and the remaining $1.65 million to be paid in installments over 18 months.
Lululemon does not have a successor for Potdevin immediately at hand. Until the company hires a new CEO, board chairman Glenn Murphy will oversee the direction of the company as "Executive Chairman" with three current Lululemon executives reporting to him in expanded roles. The executives, who will each take on a different aspect of the CEO's responsibilities, are the current senior vice president of marketing Sun Choe, chief operating officer Stuart Haselden, and Celeste Burgoyne, executive vice president of the company's Americas division.
