John Foley net worth: Peloton CEO's fortune explored as he steps down amid company layoffs

John Foley recently announced on January 8 that he is stepping down as the CEO of the at-home exercise equipment company Peloton and will now be the executive chairman. The position will be taken over by the former CFO of Spotify and Netflix, Barry McCarthy.

Foley said the company decided to reduce the size of its team by around 2,800 positions globally and added that Peloton is making changes at every level of the organization.

The layoffs representing 20% of Peloton’s workforce and the leadership shuffle come after the company lost $439 million in the recent quarter. The Times reported that the brand’s share price has dropped by more than 80% since January 2021.

John Foley called the latest announcement one of the most challenging ones in their history. He also mentioned:

“Let me be clear about one thing: this team has built Peloton into what it is today. And this means YOU. Brick by brick, this team has developed the hardware, software, content, delivery and retail experience that is helping improve the lives of millions of Members. This is rare and powerful.”

---

John Foley’s net worth explored

John Foley founded Peloton considering the requirement of fit exercise in a busy work-life schedule. The company’s stocks went up during the pandemic in November 2021.

Foley was previously the e-commerce president at Barnes and Noble and worked at Mars Inc. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in science and industrial engineering in 1994.

He then graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 2001.

John Foley’s name was listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in 2020 and 2021 with a net worth of almost $1.5 billion. His net worth then dropped to $350 million in January 2022.

He also sold 100,000 Peloton Interactive Inc stock units for more than $11,067,000 on March 2021.

John Foley earned a lot of wealth as the co-founder of Peloton (Image via Chris Goodney/Getty Images)

Peloton was established in 2013 after John raised $307,000 to launch his at-home exercise startup. The company was founded by him, Graham Stanton, Hisao Kushi, Yong Feng, and Tom Cortese.

---

New measures being taken by Peloton

John Foley laid out a list of measures Peloton has decided to take care of their team, including severance, healthcare, and a complimentary 12-month Peloton membership for employees who would be let go.

Peloton will also wind down its Output Park plant in Ohio and undertake a significant realignment and reduce its warehousing footprint.

The company has faced various issues in the last few months after its explosion during the Covid-19 pandemic. John called that phase a whirlwind of a learning experience.

Reports surfaced recently that there was a pause in bike and treadmill production because of a decrease in demand, according to internal documents acquired by CNBC.

Foley denied the reports and claimed the company was in the middle of a strategic reset after witnessing an increase in its at-home fitness products sales since gyms were closed because of the pandemic.

John also spoke about the reported production downshift in a letter published on Peloton’s website last month, which states:

“Notably, we’ve found ourselves in the middle of a once-in-a-hundred year event with the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we anticipated would happen over the course of three years happened in months during 2020, and into 2021.”

The letter added that they worked quickly to meet the demand when the world needed them, and they felt good about right-sizing their production. It also stated that as they evolve to more seasonal demand curves, they are resetting their production levels for sustainable growth.

Peleton revealed in March 2021 that a child died due to an accident with their Tread+, which was one of the few incidents involving the treadmill. The company then announced a voluntary recall of their Tread+ and Tread treadmills in May 2021.