Peloton has announced that its chief financial officer, Jill Woodworth, is leaving the company and will be replaced by Amazon Web Services executive Liz Coddington, effective June 13th. Woodworth served as Peloton’s CFO since 2018 and will serve as a consultant for Peloton on an interim basis.
Coddington, who now faces the task of turning around Peloton’s finances, most recently served as the vice president of finance for Amazon Web Services. Prior to this role, Coddington held senior leadership roles at companies including Walmart and Netflix.
“Liz is a deeply talented finance executive and will be an invaluable addition to Peloton’s leadership team,” said Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy in a statement. “Having worked at some of the strongest and most recognizable technology brands, she not only brings the expertise needed to run our finance organization, but she has a critical understanding of what it takes to drive growth and operational excellence. I have seen her intellect, abilities, and leadership firsthand and am excited to work closely with her as we execute the next phase of Peloton’s journey.”
The change marks yet another departure from the company’s top ranks, after McCarthy, a former Spotify and Netflix executive, took up the reins of the company after former Peloton CEO John Foley stepped down in February 2022. At the same time, Peloton announced that it was cutting 2,800 jobs globally, around 20% of its corporate workforce, “at every level of the organization.”
McCarthy took the reins from Foley at a time of uncertainty at the connected fitness brand, culminating with a drop in demand. Although the brand was doing well prior to COVID-related shutdowns and had amassed an almost cult-like following, the widespread closure of gyms proved to be a massive accelerator. This year, meanwhile, has thus far been marked by reports of slowed demand and corrective action.
Peloton’s financial results released on May 10th showed that the company missed revenue estimates by $6 million, reporting $964.3 million, which was down from the $1.26 billion reported in the same quarter last year. Losses for the quarter hit $757.1 million.
Following the earnings release, McCarthy cited three primary goals: “1. Stabilizing the cash flow 2. Getting the right people in the right roles and 3. Growing again.” He noted Peloton hired former Grove Collaborative COO Andy Rendich to manage the company’s supply chain and help get inventory more inline with demand.
The company also increased its monthly subscription fees on June 1st, with the cost of the all-access plan increasing from $39 to $44 in the United States and from $49 to $55 in Canada. At the same time, Peloton also announced that it was lowering the price of its exercise equipment in an effort to make its hardware more affordable. The company had outlined that the price changes were part of McCarthy’s vision to grow the company’s community.
Last month, it was reported that Peloton was courting investors to take a 15-20% stake in a bid to bring in additional cash amid continued struggles. Earlier reports suggested that it was exploring an outright sale to bidders, including Amazon. It’s since been suggested that the company is looking to increase revenue prior to executing an outright sale.
