Peloton Poaches Ford Exec Who Co-Founded Apple Fitness+ for Top Job 

They consider him the best person for the job, handlebar none.

Peloton Interactive announced Thursday that it has appointed Ford executive Peter Stern as CEO and president, effective Jan. 1, to pedal the company out of its prolonged post-pandemic slump.

From Subscriber to CEO

Interim co-CEOs have been steering Peloton since May, when former Netflix executive Barry McCarthy left after over two years and the company laid off 15% of staff. McCarthy was brought in to navigate a downturn that followed years of growth through the COVID-19 pandemic, when home exercise became the best — if only — fitness business in town.

McCarthy cut costs, entered retail partnerships — one with Costco was announced last week — and ushered in a rebrand from high-end stationary bike manufacturer to health-for-all firm with its own software and exclusive subscriber content. Stern, who only joined Ford about 14 months ago to run its digital subscription services for car owners, co-founded Apple’s Fitness+ service while at the tech giant. Markets reacted with enthusiasm:

• Peloton’s shares rose more than 27% Thursday. The company has already made some recent turnaround progress without its new CEO: First-quarter revenue, also announced Thursday, fell 1.6% year-over-year to $586 million, which was better than expected, while net loss shrunk from $159.3 million a year ago to just $900,000.
• Chris Bruzzo, one of Peloton’s interim CEOs, said on a Thursday analyst call that two-thirds of Peloton subscribers — “members,” as they’re called — are women, and that the company will be marketing to men more, including during football games. The company’s incoming CEO knows all about being a Peloton bro: He’s been a member since 2016.

Some analysts, however, have suggested Peloton should give up its growth ambitions: BMO Capital Markets said in August note that it should be “bear-hugging its brand loyalists and acknowledging that growth is likely in the rearview.”

Timing is Everything: Reuters reported Thursday that Ford CEO Jim “Cousin of Chris” Farley warned employees that bonuses could be slashed if metrics don’t improve under his new performance-based system. Stern presumably got a pay bump with his new job, anyway.