Brands
Warburg Pincus promotes Hemant Mundra to MD
MUMBAI: He’s been given a leg up at private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Hemant Mundra who was principal at the firm has been elevated to managing director as of the new year.
Hemant has worked over a decade in private equity across varied sectors including financial services, healthcare, consumer and auto components with a primary focus on financial services. He is on the board of several companies including Avanse Financial Services, Vistaar Finance, Shriram Housing Finance and Parksons Packaging.
The chemical engineering B. tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai went on to qualify as a US certified financial analyst and then did his MBA in finance from IIM Ahmedabad between 2012-2014. Rothschild hired him as an analyst between April 2011 and May 2012, following which he joined IIM-A and did his financial . MBA.
He joined Kedaara Capital in March 2014 and rose to become a senior associate, Warburg Pincus called and he joined as vice-president in November 2017.
In between he had super short stints at Reliance, Essar, Deloitte, and Morgan Stanley.
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.
