Peloton Cuts Jobs, Names New CEO

Peloton Interactive will replace its chief executive and cut about 2,800 jobs, the company announced earlier this week, as the exercise bike maker looks to revitalize sagging sales and win back investor confidence. John Foley, Peloton's co-founder who has led the company for nearly a decade, will step down to become the executive chair. Barry McCarthy, the former chief financial officer of Spotify Technology and Netflix, will take the helm immediately. As part of its restructuring, Peloton plans to lay off roughly 20 percent of its corporate workforce, roughly 2,800 positions.

Total Retail's Take: It's been an eventful week for Peloton. As we reported earlier this week, Peloton has been the target of a potential acquisition, including by Amazon.com, Apple, and Nike. The exercise bike maker/home fitness brand has struggled to maintain the surge of sales it generated at the outset of the pandemic, as consumers were quarantining at home. Now that vaccinations have increased and gyms have reopened, Peloton has seen a decline in demand for its product. And according to activist investor, Blackwells Capital, much of the blame for the brand's recent challenges fall at the feet of the now former CEO, John Foley. The investment firm has been calling for Foley's firing for weeks. Under the guidance of a new CEO, it will be interesting to see if Peloton positions itself for sale or, the more likely path, makes internal changes and other cost-cutting measures to strengthen its bottom line and restore the company to the high-growth trajectory it was on.