Peloton bikes had been all the fad through the pandemic, making co-founder and then-CEO John Foley, a billionaire. After which, after individuals started venturing exterior their houses once more, Peloton struggled to maintain its mojo.
Earlier this 12 months, Foley left the corporate, shedding 87% of his wealth on paper by the tip of his tenure there. Now, he has a brand new curiosity, and it includes rugs.
His enterprise, known as Ernesta, will supply custom-made rugs beginning within the first half of 2023, the Wall Road Journal reported Wednesday.
Having at all times beloved inside design, Foley advised the Journal that even earlier than the founding of image-sharing platform Pinterest, he would rip the pages from design magazines to create temper boards of his visible concepts. He discovered that custom-fitted rugs had been typically costly and that purchasing store-bought ones meant being caught with solely the precise sizes obtainable.
Along with his new enterprise, Foley desires to create a approach for individuals to purchase reasonably priced rugs—they’d begin at $200, based on the Wall Road Journal—that might be made to suit totally different dimensions. The problem, Foley stated, is to persuade buyers they have to spend money on custom-fit rugs.
“The workforce right here is earnest in its work to carry stunning, {custom} rugs to your house in a well timed, cost-effective method,” Foley stated on Ernesta’s web site. The corporate’s identify, Foley wrote, displays his fascination with writer Ernest Hemingway.
Foley co-founded Peloton in 2012 after elevating $307,000 on Kickstarter to assist construct the exercise-bike startup. By January 2021, the corporate was value practically $50 billion, swelling Foley’s internet value.
However after the pandemic began ebbing, Peloton confronted a actuality test.
The bike maker underwent a restructuring in September, throughout which Foley and his co-founder, Hisao Kushi resigned from their government roles. In October, his stake within the firm was value $100 million, down from $1.5 billion a 12 months earlier.
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