Behind the Business with Michelle Toh
Behind the Business with Michelle Toh

Peloton’s push into gyms: CEO Peter Stern’s big bet

September 3, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Peloton’s push into gyms: CEO Peter Stern’s big bet

When Peter Stern was 18 years old, he ran the subscription business for a college magazine with 2,000 subscribers. He personally addressed the renewal envelopes, and when subscribers sent in their $20 bills, he carried them to the bank himself. That tactile experience with subscriptions never left him. Decades later, after running iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV+, and co-creating Apple Fitness+, Stern found himself applying the same filter to his next move: he wanted a subscription business at the intersection of media, technology, and community, on the East Coast, where he could make a real difference in people’s health. When he ran that filter, only one company came out the other side: Peloton.

The refounding: from connected fitness to connected wellness

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:46) **Peter Stern’s Arrival and the Refounding of Peloton** - Stern frames his first year as a “refounding” that redefines the company’s purpose and scope.
  • 2 (14:23) **The Biggest Misunderstanding About Peloton** - Stern corrects the common perception that Peloton is just an in-home cycling company.
  • 3 (17:08) **From Connected Fitness to a Connected Wellness Ecosystem** - Stern details the strategic shift from a pure fitness brand to a holistic wellness platform.
  • 4 (21:01) **Why AI is an “Unalloyed Good” at Peloton** - Stern explains how AI solves the scalability problem of personal training for six million members.
  • 5 (23:40) **The Magic Formula: Why Hardware Still Matters** - Stern defends the hardware-first strategy against calls to focus purely on software and subscriptions.
  • 6 (26:16) **The Big Bet: Peloton is Heading to the Gym** - Stern explains the strategic decision to enter the commercial gym market and the reception so far.
  • 7 (29:45) **Hospitality and Hotels: Expanding the Ecosystem** - Stern confirms Peloton is deepening its presence in hotels and hospitality settings.

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Show Notes

This week’s guest is Peloton CEO & President Peter Stern. He takes us inside the company’s push to reinvent itself after its post-pandemic struggles — including its latest move into gyms.

Peloton became one of the biggest winners in business during the pandemic, but as consumers returned to gyms and life moved on, the company faced a very different reality.

Stern, a former Apple executive who helped create Apple Fitness+, calls the Peloton job a “dream” opportunity.

In his first year as CEO, Stern has set out to “refound” Peloton around a broader connected wellness ecosystem spanning fitness, mental wellbeing, sleep and recovery.

Plus, Stern shares how he manages Wall Street pressure, the “25” system he uses to help his team sift through priorities, the “one-touch” rule that keeps his inbox from piling up, and where he ultimately wants to take Peloton.


In this conversation, we discuss: 00:00: Introduction 01:24: Peter's career journey and early ambitions 02:45: Lessons from McKinsey and Time Warner Cable 03:55: What Apple taught Peter about subscription businesses 05:58: Lessons from leaving Apple for Ford 09:00: Why Peter chose to take on this challenge — and reaction from friends and family 11:06: Why Peter personally called Peloton’s recruiter to pitch himself 13:44: The "biggest misunderstanding" about Peloton 15:18: Ad 16:34: Strength classes, Pilates and breathwork: Building an overall wellness ecosystem 18:06: “Refounding” the company 20:21: Peloton IQ: What Peloton is really trying to solve with AI 23:06: Balancing Peloton’s hardware and subscription businesses 25:43: Why Peloton is expanding from homes into commercial gyms 29:11: Partnering with hotels32:03: The rise of GLP-1 and why Peter thinks it could actually be good news for the fitness industry 33:53: Peloton’s international expansion strategy 36:06: Balancing Wall Street expectations with long-term growth 38:21: Peter’s long-term vision 40:01: The “25” system that forces the company to prioritize

42:29: Overhauling its entire product lineup and launching four new products in 10 months 42:59: Audience question

45:03: The “one-touch” rule Peter uses to manage his inbox 44:12: Rapid-fire round


This episode is brought to you by Long Angle: https://www.longangle.com/business

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🎙️About Behind the BusinessBehind the Business is a Webby Award-winning, thoughtfully produced video podcast grounded in the belief that business is in fact personal. This is not a fawn

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