(Bloomberg) — Peloton Interactive Inc.’s Tom Cortese, its chief product officer and last remaining co-founder, is leaving the fitness company and passing the job to technology industry veteran Nick Caldwell.
(Bloomberg) — Peloton Interactive Inc.’s Tom Cortese, its chief product officer and last remaining co-founder, is leaving the fitness company and passing the job to technology industry veteran Nick Caldwell.
Cortese, who was a key lieutenant to Peloton’s current chief executive officer and his predecessor, will remain an adviser after stepping down Nov. 1. He said in a statement that “it is time to move on and create space for new perspectives.”
Caldwell, Cortese’s replacement, is at least the third former Twitter executive to join Peloton in recent years. He was previously the general manager of core technologies at the social media firm, and served as an executive at Reddit, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. before that.
In hiring someone with experience in software and cloud-based services, Peloton is underscoring its strategic shift toward online subscriptions — rather than just sales of fitness equipment.
“Nick joins us at an exciting time as we lean into growing our subscriber base online and on our connected fitness hardware,” Chief Executive Officer Barry McCarthy said in the statement.
After thriving during early pandemic lockdowns, Peloton has struggled to bounce back from a deep slump. In August, the company’s quarterly revenue outlook came in well below expectations. In addition to suffering a slowdown in equipment sales, Peloton has struggled with product recalls.
The company said last month that recalls tied to its high-end treadmill are costing more than expected and that it doesn’t expect to be cash-flow positive in the near term. Its stock has fallen more than 41% this year, adding to steep declines in 2021 and 2022.
In May, Peloton also had to recall 2.2 million original bikes due to a flaw with the seat post. The New York-based company provided a self-repair kit to fix the problem.
Still, Peloton has expanded its product offerings. That’s included bringing its rowing machine to Canada and striking a hardware distribution deal with the University of Michigan. The company has also sought to generate additional revenue by getting its equipment into local gyms and hotels.
McCarthy, who took over for co-founder John Foley in early 2022, revamped the company’s operations and refocused on content and services. A veteran of Netflix Inc. and Spotify Technology SA, McCarthy also reshuffled management, bringing in executives from what was once known as Twitter as well as Uber Technologies Inc.
Peloton’s other co-founders, including its former head of legal and technology chief, have exited the company since the CEO transition.
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