Peloton CEO Told His Board the Company Would Be Worth $1 Trillion. His Board Said It Made Him Sound Like an Idiot. Peloton Is Now Worth $1.7 Billion.

At the height of pandemic mania, when everyone was trapped at home pedaling to nowhere, Peloton CEO John Foley had a vision. A $1 trillion vision. He was so confident he shared it with his board, who responded with the kind of candid feedback only a board can give: "Don't say that again. It makes you sound like an idiot." Foley also insisted Peloton wasn't a "COVID story" and said "it annoys the crap out of me" when people suggested otherwise. The market had other ideas. From a peak market cap of $50 billion in January 2021, Peloton cratered to around $1.7 billion today—roughly 0.17% of Foley's trillion-dollar dream. Turns out it was very much a COVID story. Foley stepped down in 2022 after the company announced it would lay off 20% of its workforce. He later admitted he had to sell "almost all his possessions" after the crash. The board, it seems, was right.