Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) says its new CEO Barry McCarthy, is telling remaining staff that he’s “here for the comeback story.”
In an email sent to Peloton employees late Tuesday, following the announcement that the former Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) exec would be replacing Peloton founder John Foley as chief executive, McCarthy laid the groundwork for his plans to turn around the embattled connected fitness company.
He goes on to say, "If you thought today’s news meant John [Foley] would be scaling back his involvement with Peloton, then let me assure you ... I plan on leveraging every ounce of John’s superpowers as a product, content, and marketing visionary to help make Peloton a success as my partner."
Foley, a former Barnes & Noble exec who launched Peloton in 2012, has transitioned to executive chairman as part of the management shakeup.
"And now that the reset button has been pushed, the challenge ahead of us is this ... do we squander the opportunity in front of us or do we engineer the great comeback story of the post-COVID era?," McCarthy writes.
McCarthy’s comments cast even more doubt on the idea that Peloton would be open to a takeover from a company like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) or Nike (NYSE:NKE). In recent days, reports have circulated that certain parties were interested in the business amid the stock’s selloff. Activist Blackwells Capital is also pushing Peloton to consider a sale.
PTON shares stumbled out of the gate $1.25, or 3.4%, to 36.02
