Apple VP behind Fitness+ is now becoming Peleton’s CEO and President

Peleton has announced Peter Stern as its new CEO and President, and he just happens to be a former Apple VP who had oversight of services while at the company. One of his former projects? The launch and growth of Apple Fitness+.

New Peleton CEO oversaw services at Apple

From Peleton’s announcement:

As the co-founder of Apple Fitness+, Mr. Stern led its growth to millions of members. He brings the energy of a founder with the experience of a veteran.

[…]

Mr. Stern spent more than six years as Vice President of Services at Apple, where he managed the businesses of Apple TV+ and Sports, iCloud, Apple News, Apple Books, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+ and Apple One. Additionally, Mr. Stern led marketing for Apple services, including the App Store, Apple Card, Apple Pay, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and Apple Maps. He also oversaw Apple’s advertising businesses during a period of rapid growth.

Apple and Peleton have long been sources of comparison due to their shared focus on health and creating premium consumer products.

Stern left Apple just last year, in 2023, to join Ford as its President of Integrated Services. But even though Ford was his most recent gig, his experience was largely built at Apple, and Time Warner Cable before that.

Apple Fitness+ was only ultimately a small part of Stern’s tenure at Apple, but per his own words, health is a passion project for the new Peleton CEO. So it will be interesting to see what lessons from Apple might make their way into Peleton’s future.

Peleton is in a season of transition following a COVID boom. The Peleton board clearly hopes that Stern’s experience building and scaling cloud services can help propel Peleton into a bright future.

What do you make of Peleton’s CEO hiring? Let us know in the comments.