• by Tanya Gazdik , May 7, 2025

A well-known weight loss brand is undergoing a “transformation strategy” which includes reducing its debt obligations via a bankruptcy and reorganization.

WeightWatchers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to reduce its debt by more than $1 billion.

“Iconic weight management brand WeightWatchers’s bankruptcy filing this week underscores the titanic shifts that drugs such as Ozempic have inflicted on the diet industry,” according to The Washington Post. “The 62-year-old company has been trying to shift its business model in the face of changing consumer attitudes, a proliferation of free fitness and health advice on social media, and growing competition from weight-loss drugs that represent a sea change for the industry, experts said.”

WeightWatchers, which expects to get rid of $1.15 billion in debt, said it hopes to complete its Chapter 11 organization within 45 days. 

“In its heyday, WeightWatchers shaped how millions of people in the United States and beyond ate and exercised,” according to The New York Times. “Oprah Winfrey was once a spokeswoman and board member. But the company has struggled to keep its customers as people turn to weight-loss medications, fitness apps and social media influencers.”

Winfrey left the board after nearly a decade and donated all of her stock to a museum. 

“The former talk show host credited the program for help losing 40 pounds in 2016 but later revealed that she had also used an unnamed weight loss drug to lose more,” according to CNN Business. 

WeightWatchers remains fully operational during the reorganization process and there will be no impact to its 3.4 million members, according to a statement from the company. 

“For decades, WeightWatchers shaped how millions lost weight by implementing nutrition and exercise plans through its community-based weight-loss program,” according to People. “However, the company has struggled in recent years due to the rise of weight-loss medications. In an attempt to pivot, in 2023, the company announced the acquisition of a company called Sequence, a telehealth platform of healthcare providers to assist in prescribing the trendy GLP-1 drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide, known by brand names Ozempic, Wegovy and Monjuaro."