It is not what everyone would describe as a dream job.
But when the chief executive role at Peloton opened up, Peter Stern jumped at the opportunity: He reached out to the headhunter to pitch himself and, in early 2025, became the company’s third chief executive in three years.
Peloton rode high during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, when gymgoers were forced to work out at home, but in recent years its subscriptions have stalled and sales have dropped. The fitness equipment brand’s market value has cratered, from a peak of nearly $50 billion five years ago to around $2 billion.
A Peloton user before joining the company, Mr. Stern, 54, has worked in subscription businesses throughout his career, with stints at Time Warner, Apple and Ford’s software and services unit. “This is actually my dream job,” he said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Manhattan.
It has been bumpy. This year, Peloton laid off 11 percent of its work force, across departments including engineering and content. In a recent earnings report, the company lowered its forecast for sales, spurring another big drop in its share price. Subscriber churn increased last quarter after the rise in prices, and last month Peloton’s chief financial officer left the company.
Part of Mr. Stern’s plan is to redefine what Peloton is known for. Last fall, the company announced artificial intelligence features that curate workouts for users and an upgraded lineup of stationary bikes, treadmills and rowing machines. The company has also broadened beyond cardio and offers more classes on strength training and yoga, as those workouts have become more popular in recent years. It recently said it would make Peloton-branded equipment for gyms, looking beyond the at-home fitness market.
“I don’t even think there can be any other strategy for this business that makes sense,” Mr. Stern said.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Since the pandemic, it seems many people have abandoned Peloton. What’s your assessment of that?
If we look at the subscriber dynamics for the company, we’re not that far off from where we were at the absolute peak of Covid, which is a remarkable thing because at that peak, no one could exercise any way other than at home.
It might feel like we’re a little less present in people’s minds because there are now alternatives.
In terms of subscriptions?
One way I like to look at it is: Where were we before Covid in 2019 and where are we now? The number of subscribers has grown if you compare that period. There was a huge spike in 2021 and 2022, but most of those people are still with us — and lots of new people have discovered us in the meantime.
Another number people look at is Peloton’s market value. Is returning to its peak pandemic market cap a thing that you want?
That was an unrealistic valuation for the company at that time. I would argue that the valuation we have now is also unrealistic.
We’re seeing vastly improved trajectory on revenue. We are now consistently delivering profitability. We maintain incredibly high member satisfaction. All of those things mean we’re right where we should be, and the valuation will come.
When you say that the current valuation is unrealistic, what do you mean?
Too low.
Why didn’t Peloton try to put its equipment in gyms until recently?
I’ve only been here for a little over a year, so what I can say is that there was a period when the company really was growing so quickly where it was just focused on the home. In that period leading up the pandemic, that was the differentiator. For a couple of years after that, people had no choice.
During your tenure, Peloton has further expanded beyond cardio, adding even more yoga, strength and other types of workouts. What was the thinking there?
The optimal exercise regimen is not just cardio — it should also include strength.
It’s our responsibility to make sure that we can deliver that complete diet on the exercise front to our members. In our last quarter, we had two million members doing strength workouts. Not only do a very large fraction of our members engage in strength training in addition to cardio, but those who do stay with us 40 percent longer.
How do you make sure that you’re not overextending?
I don’t think we’re overextended. We’re highly capable of producing a wide range and a highly diverse array of classes across all of the disciplines you can imagine. In the last year, Peloton produced — give or take — 10,000 classes.
There is a perception that Peloton’s core cardio business is struggling. How do you respond to that?
It was never broken, and the member love we have is extremely ardent.
Many businesses use a “net promoter score” as a tool: your recommenders minus your detractors. We are typically over 70. That is the furthest thing from a broken business.
But it seems like there’s a difference between how members view Peloton and how Wall Street sees it.
Turnarounds take time, right?
In 2023, this company shrank 23 to 24 percent on the top line. Fast-forward a couple of years, it was minus 8 percent in 2025. We’re starting to approach flat for the rest of this year.
That’s what a turnaround looks like. It doesn’t go from minus 23 to plus 23 overnight.
In the year that you’ve been at Peloton, there have been at least two rounds of layoffs. Why?
Earlier, I walked you through the history of our revenue declines. That’s one reason.
The work that we’ve done this year has been focused on reinvestment in the areas that make us different and special. That’s our products, our software, content from our human instructors and our community.
What we’re focused on now is trying to get as efficient as we can possibly be in the areas that don’t differentiate us. We don’t need to be the world’s best company at payroll.
Any opportunity I have to get more efficient in one area to reinvest in another, I will take.
Let’s talk tariffs. Peloton sued the U.S. government before the Supreme Court struck down some of President Trump’s tariffs. What led Peloton to take that step?
There were hundreds of companies that were doing that.
We just wanted to make sure that we were reserving our rights, depending on how things played out.
Do you think you will get a refund for tariffs you’ve already paid?
We’ve requested it. When we get it, we’ll be happy. But, to be honest, I’m not sure it will be a very large number.
We’re fortunately financially healthy enough that we’re not waiting on that check with bated breath.
If you get a refund, would that flow back to customers?
There’s such a complicated tapestry of tariffs out there. I don’t want to oversimplify what’s happening. We are still subject to 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. If you look at our bikes, they’re very large hunks of steel. If you look at our Tread Plus or our Rower, it’s a very large hunk of aluminum.
Weight-loss drugs have really taken off during your tenure. Is Peloton tailoring content for people taking GLP-1s?
We’re not specifically tailoring content for people on GLP-1s. That being said, we recognize that somewhere in the vicinity of 12 percent of American adults have at least tried a GLP-1 at one point. We anticipate that as a pill form comes out, that number will increase substantially.
Workout regimens that include both cardio and strength are especially important for people on GLP-1s.
Tell me more about your upbringing. Where are you from?
I was born in Brooklyn, but I mostly grew up in Connecticut.
What did your parents do?
My dad was a paper salesman, and my mom was a fitness instructor.
What kind of fitness?
She worked for an outfit called Nancy Strong’s Aerobic Slimnastics. It was very ’80s.
She started with eight women in their leotards in a little basement and ultimately had to move it to a gymnasium because she had 100 women showing up. There was not the technology to do what we do at Peloton now, but I have no doubt that if she had the opportunity, she might have been the kind of person that could have scaled to the tens of thousands that we have in a class now.
I would work with her to make her exercise plans, and I would — in retrospect, it was likely a massive copyright violation — make mixtapes for her classes on my boombox.
What’s the most memorable song that you put on there?
The one that was really disturbing to me was this song from the ’60s called “Chicken Fat.” It was basically about exercising to eliminate fat. That one was the most representative of the time. But there was also a lot of Billy Joel.
You were at Apple before joining Peloton, and Ford and Time Warner before that. Was there a “Sliding Doors” moment in your career?
We sold Time Warner Cable to Charter Communications, now the largest cable company in the country. I had an opportunity to stay at Charter, and my wife said to me: “You spent the last 15 years taking care of our family and being a cable guy. Now is the chance to do what you love.”
I realized that I had been an Apple fanboy since I was 10 years old. I said, “I’ve always wanted to work for Apple.” She said, “If that’s what you want to do, let’s go do it.” We picked up and moved to California.
I could have stayed with what was comfortable, or started over again. I’m so glad I did.
It’s time for the lightning round. What is an overrated fitness trend?
Anything that’s not about consistency is overrated. The only thing that matters is doing something that you can stick with for years.
How many hours do you sleep, and which hours do you sleep?
I sleep about seven hours, usually 10:45 p.m. to 5:45 a.m.
How often do you check your stock price?
Very infrequently. That forces you into a short-term mind-set that’s not helpful.
What is your favorite type of Peloton class?
Tread Bootcamp. They are hellish and great.
What’s harder: a Tread Bootcamp class or a three-hour board meeting?
Oh, definitely the Tread Bootcamp. Board meetings every day instead of that.
Jordyn Holman is a Times business reporter covering management and writing the Corner Office column.
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