Inside Peloton’s rapid rise and bitter fall — and its attempt at a comeback

During virtual all-hands meetings, Foley would tell staff the company’s explosive growth was just the beginning and the stock price would reach $1,000 a share, three former employees said.

“There was a lot of blind trust … We all were like, okay, let’s go,” recalled the former engineer. “They always had this blind optimism where they were like … we’re going all the way to the top.”

Peloton set off on a hiring spree, developed new connected fitness products and spent whatever it took to get bikes delivered to homes. Field operators were offered thousands in hazard pay to keep delivering bikes through the pandemic’s darkest days. In some regions, the company was spending nearly $500 per final mile delivery, not counting how much it cost to get the equipment shipped from overseas, a former field operations supervisor said. The goal was to keep final mile delivery rates around $250 per delivery in some regions, the supervisor said.