Brands
TVS Motor taps Kalpana Unadkat as independent director
CHENNAI: TVS Motor Company has appointed Kalpana Unadkat as an additional director and non-executive independent director for a five-year term, in a move that strengthens the board’s legal and governance heft.
The appointment, effective December 15, is subject to shareholder approval, the company said in a disclosure to the BSE. The board cleared the decision at its meeting held earlier in the day.
Unadkat is a dual-qualified solicitor in India and the UK, with more than 25 years of experience in cross-border mergers, joint ventures and corporate governance. She was formerly a senior partner at Khaitan & Co and co-head of Ashurst’s India practice in London.
She currently serves as an independent director on the boards of Avenue Supermarts, TVS Credit Services and Eris Lifesciences. A leading authority on corporate governance, she advises boards on effectiveness, leadership, organisational culture and decision-making, and has trained more than 200 directors through structured development programmes. Unadkat regularly advises international companies and is ranked among the leading lawyers in independent legal guides.
Her accolades include the Trailblazer Women Achiever Award 2023 from Ficci Flo, Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year in 2018 and 2019, The Rising Women of the Year Award in 2019, and the Female Lawyer of the Year and Women Super Achiever awards in 2017.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
