BIG BACKPEDAL

Peloton CEO Banned Staff Holiday Parties, Then Held His Own Incredibly Lavish Bash

A moratorium on holiday parties apparently didn’t apply to Peloton’s founder John Foley.

It’s been a pretty rough festive season over at Peloton, with bosses placing a moratorium on new hires and holiday parties as they deal with concerns over tanking stock prices and the exercise bike company’s future. So, imagine the surprise of employees when they saw that CEO John Foley held his own invite-only lavish holiday party at New York City’s Plaza Hotel after cancelling his staff’s get-together. The New York Post reports Peloton workers were left fuming after photos of the opulent event appeared online. They told the Post that only Peloton instructors, not other workers, got an invite. One complained: “All of the instructors and their plus-ones were invited to attend but companywide there was a moratorium on hiring and any holiday parties... Company morale is at an all time low.” In a company email, Foley told disgruntled employees that the party was a “personal event,” and, even though numerous Peloton instructors were invited, “the event was not officially affiliated with Peloton in any capacity.”