John Foley, the Co-Founder of Peloton, will leave the company he founded, according to a statement from the company.
Foley will exit the company’s board of directors, months after the company hired former Spotify exec Barry McCarthy as CEO.
A press release from the company stated, “The company has accepted the resignations of John Foley as Executive Chair and Hisao Kushi as Chief Legal Officer, effective September 12, 2022 and October 3, 2022, respectively.”
Tammy Albarrán, most recently Uber’s chief deputy general counsel and deputy corporate secretary, will replace Kushi.
According to a source, after a cooling off period, Foley may sell his shares in the company as well. Foley, his wife, and other insiders control 60% of Peleton’s voting shares.
In a statement, Foley wrote, “As I reflect on the journey Peloton has been on since we founded it, I am so proud of what we have built together. From day one, the incredible talent we’ve had on our team and the dedication, hard work, and creativity of every Peloton employee are what got us to where we are today. We founded the company because we wanted to make fitness and wellness convenient, fun, and effective. Because of the work of thousands of people, we’ve done that.”
Foley began Peleton in 2012 after raising $300,000 in capital to launch the startup with co-founders Graham Stanton, Hisao Kushi, Yony Feng, and Tom Cortese. The company launched its IPO in September 2019.
Peleton, which surged during the pandemic when everyone was locked down, has plummeted near all-time lows lately. The company temporarily paused production of its home fitness products last year as a “significant reduction” in consumer demand caused it to look for ways to cut costs. Last month the company announced it was cutting 800 jobs, closing some of its retail outlets, and raising prices.
In July, the company confirmed that it would outsource the manufacture of its bikes and treadmills to an outside vendor. Then last month in another turnaround, the company began selling select equipment and apparel through Amazon.
