Peloton was one of the most sought-after products on the market during the pandemic. But as the dangers of COVID-19 receded, the fitness equipment maker’s stock also sank. Former billionaire CEO John Foley says his fortune was wiped out in the process.
“You know, at one point I had a lot of money on paper,” Foley, who co-founded Peloton in 2012 and was its helm for a decade, told New York Post.
“Not really (in the bank), unfortunately. I lost all my money. I had to sell almost everything in my life.”
When demand for at-home workouts skyrocketed in the early days of COVID-19, Peloton’s revenue increased 250%, its stock price rose more than 400%, and Foley became a billionaire seemingly overnight.
But when pandemic restrictions were lifted and people started exercising outdoors again, the company overestimated demand.
By November 2021, Peloton’s stock price had fallen sharply and Foley had lost his newly acquired ten-figure status.
Then, in December 2021, the premiere episode of the Sex and the City Restart, And just like that…killed one of the main characters, Mr. Big, who suffered a heart attack… while riding a Peloton.
“We were just coming out of the Covid pandemic. The stock was crashing. And then this big shit happened… it was brutal,” he recalled. “All of a sudden we were just being trolled… everything collapsed.”
The New York-based company was once worth a whopping $50 billion and barely held on to its unicorn status when Foley stepped down as CEO in February 2022. According to Bloomberg, Foley was once worth $1.9 billion but left the company with a net worth of $225 million.
Since then, the company has hired a new CEO, Barry McCarthy, laid off thousands of employees, raised prices and announced the closure of retail stores to counter the collapse in demand following the pandemic.
The market capitalization is still a shadow of its former size and currently stands at $1.8 billion.
Assets asked Foley for comment.
Peloton’s stock bloodbath destroyed more than Foley’s billionaire status
It wasn’t just Foley’s billionaire status (and his career at the company he founded) that was wiped out by Peloton’s share price crash.
The former Peloton boss was forced to make two staff cuts – including selling a $55 million waterfront home in East Hampton and uprooting his family.
“My family took it well,” the 53-year-old told New York Post. “My wife is very supportive. If we stay honest, my children will probably be better off.”
Although Foley lost much of his fortune, the ordeal did not extinguish his ambition.
Within a year of stepping down from his top job at Peloton, he had raised $25 million for his new company, a carpet manufacturer called Ernesta that sells directly to the consumer.
He now believes the company can generate up to $500 million in free cash flow by 2030.
“I’m working hard so I can make money again… because I don’t have much left,” Foley concluded. “And that’s why I’m hungry and humble.”
“None of this is real”
As Foley’s experience shows, achieving billionaire status can be quite meaningless if that wealth is only on paper and tied up in stocks that are not easily sold.
After being named Britain’s youngest billionaire, Ben Francis, founder and CEO of Gymshark, said “none of this is real”, adding that his wealth was “only on paper” and tied to assets whose value could fluctuate.
“It could double, it could (halve),” the millennial entrepreneur added. “That’s why I think it’s important that no human being should ever base their self-worth on things like wealth, assets or anything financial.”
For this reason, in his eyes, defining one’s own success based on net worth is “an extremely unproductive way of life”.
This story originally appeared on Fortune.com