Peloton announces CEO departure; to cut 15% of workforce

Peloton announced the departure of its chief executive on Thursday, alongside plans to cut around 15% of its workforce amid a restructuring programme aimed at reducing annual expenses by more than $200m.

The company said Barry McCarthy was stepping down as president, CEO and a board director, and will become a strategic advisor to Peloton through the end of the year.

Karen Boone, current Peloton chairperson, and Chris Bruzzo, a director, will serve as interim co-CEOs.

Boone said: "On behalf of the board, I want to thank Barry for his contributions to Peloton. Barry joined Peloton during an incredibly challenging time for the business. During his tenure, he laid the foundation for scalable growth by steadily rearchitecting the cost structure of the business to create stability and to reach the important milestone of achieving positive free cash flow.

"With a strong leadership team in place and the company now on solid footing, the board has decided that now is an appropriate time to search for the next CEO of Peloton."

The company also announced it will be cutting 15% of its headcount, equivalent to around 400 jobs.

In addition, Peloton said it will continue to reduce its retail showroom footprint.

"We are also reimagining our go-to-market approach for our International markets to be more targeted and efficient," it said.

"While we have no plans to exit any of our existing international markets, we will leverage global strategies and capabilities where we can, allowing us to optimise and consolidate resources with localized execution. While these decisions are always difficult, they have been made carefully to ensure that we can continue to provide the best fitness experience for our members and maintain positive free cash flow over the long term."

The restructuring is expected to be completed over the next 12 months.