Peloton lures CEO back from retirement with £145m package despite tumbling market value
Peloton lured chief exec Barry McCarthy out of retirement with a handsome package worth $168m (£145m), making him one of the highest-paid bosses in the US.
McCarthy, who previously served as chief of finance at both Spotify and Netflix, replaced Peloton co-founder John Foley as CEO of the fitness company back in February.
McCarthy is often credited for pushing Spotify to pursue a direct listing to go public, and also took Netflix public at a time when it was still shipping DVDs to customers’ homes.
He vowed to turn the firm around after momentum continued to fade as gym and leisure centres reopened post-pandemic and the stay-at-home stock fell from grace for investors.
Shares have tanked over 90 per cent in the last year, shaving around $47bn off its market cap since the start of 2021.
According to a new proxy filing, Peloton said that “nearly all” of this $168m package “reflects Mr McCarthy’s new hire equity grant” — options to purchase shares at a later date.
However, the filing also revealed that Foley cashed out $97m worth of shares in the 12 months to June 2022, with five other top directors selling a total of $88m of the beleaguered stock.
Despite a pandemic boom, Peloton has continued to post 18 months of straight losses.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, McCarthy said the company remains unprofitable and needs to turn itself around in the next six months or face existential threat as a stand-alone company.
It continues to slash thousands of jobs, culling 500 more from its headcount earlier this month.
Peloton is expected to post its latest quarterly results next week.