Former Apple Exec Jumps From Ford To Peloton

Peter Stern, who currently serves as president of Ford Integrated Services, is taking on the top job at Peloton.

Stern, who previously held leadership roles at Apple and Time Warner Cable, has been appointed to serve as Peloton’s CEO and president effective Jan. 1. The struggling company also expects to appoint Stern to the Peloton board.

He joined Ford in August 2023 after six years as Apple's vice president of services, managing Apple TV+ and Sports, Apple Fitness+ and other services.

“When he was hired at Ford, the automaker said his goal was to ‘build a world-class team to create and market innovative customer experiences by integrating hardware, software and services across Ford Blue, Model e and Ford Pro,’” according to the Detroit Free Press. “It was seen as part of an overall strategy outlined by Ford CEO Jim Farley to create high-profit services through subscriptions and other digital revenue.”

advertisement

advertisement

Stern is the third CEO to lead Peloton in its history. The announcement comes about six months after Peloton announced that former Spotify and Netflix executive Barry McCarthy would be stepping down after about two years on the job. 

“The news came alongside Peloton’s fiscal first-quarter earnings report," according to CNBC. “Shares of the company jumped more than 20% in early trading.”

In a statement, Stern, 52, who has been a Peloton member since 2016, described going to Peloton as a "dream come true for me."

“My goal is to help millions of people live longer, healthier and happier lives," the Yale Law School and Harvard University graduate said, according to The Detroit News. “Peloton, with its unique combination of people, products and passionate Members, provides me an opportunity to do just that.”

Beyond being a fan of the brand, there’s likely a huge financial incentive linked to his ability to turn it around. His loss will be felt by Ford. 

“Clearly, Ford pinned high expectations on Stern to run the automaker’s nascent car software services business,” according to the Automotive News Daily 5 newsletter. “ Stern is listed as a top-five executive in Ford’s annual shareholder proxy statement and he was granted total compensation of $8.5 million in 2023, even though he only joined the automaker that year.”

Peloton in 2022 compensated McCarthy $168 million. Most of Peloton’s top executives collected about $10 million last year, according to its 2024 proxy statement, per Automotive News

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting today that Ford is slashing management bonuses to 65% of their total as it aligns compensation with quality performance. 

Next story loading loading..