economie

Here’s how these successful CEOs managed to lose it all

September 2, 20240
Peloton CEO John Foley lost his fortune after stepping down as CEO.

Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch

John Foley founded Peloton in 2012. As its top executive, he received hefty paychecks, including over $21 million in 2019.

During his tenure, Peloton became a household name as sales of its pricey equipment boomed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said it earned $757.9 million in revenue in the first fiscal quarter of 2021.

Revenue jumped to $1 billion later that year, but several hurdles would slow down Peloton’s momentum at the end of 2021 into 2022.

Peloton struggled to meet demand due to issues in the supply chain, leading to delays, cancellations, and consumer complaints of broken equipment. Consumers also began to ditch Peloton after COVID-19 lockdown restrictions eased and gyms reopened.

Though Foley managed to become a billionaire while heading Peloton, he lost that status in 2021 after stock prices slumped. He stepped down as CEO in 2022.

Foley told the New York Post last month that he nearly lost everything.

“You know, at one point, I had a lot of money on paper. Not actually [in the bank], unfortunately. I’ve lost all my money. I’ve had to sell almost everything in my life,” he told the outlet.

Foley said he’s had to downsize, which included selling his $55 million waterfront home in East Hampton. He now serves as CEO of Ernesta, a direct-to-consumer rug company.

“I’m working hard so that I can try to make money again… because I don’t have much left,” he joked. “And so I’m hungry and humble.”

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell defended former President Donald Trump against criticism.

Alex Brandon/AP

Mike Lindell has become an unexpected figure in former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, but Americans first met him as the founder and CEO of MyPillow.

Lindell launched MyPillow in 2004. He would appear in his own campy commercials that often aired on Fox News. He met Trump for the first time in 2016 during a private meeting at Trump Tower, according to CNN.

Lindell has fiercely defended Trump from criticism ever since.

He pushed election fraud conspiracies after Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. Dominion Voting System later sued Lindell for defamation in a $1.3 billion suit in 2021. A Dominion employee also filed a defamation lawsuit against Lindell in 2022.

After Trump faced intense backlash for his handling of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Lindell downplayed the incident, describing it as a “setup” and suggesting Antifa was involved. Five people died that day, and four officers who responded to the insurrection later died by suicide.

Amid the waves of bad press and poor sales, big-box stores like Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond pulled MyPillow products from their shelves.

Lindell told NBC News in 2023 that the fallout left him and his pillow company strapped for cash, and he could no longer take out loans. He said he was “canceled.”

“We’ve lost everything, every dime,” he said. “They took away my borrowing because of all you guys in the media.”

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried
Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco International, was sentenced to prison.

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Dennis Kozlowski is at the heart of one of the biggest corporate scandals of the early 2000s.

Kozlowski was the CEO of Tyco International, a security system company, from 1992 to 2002 and lived a lavish lifestyle. One year before he stepped down as CEO, Kozlowski hosted a $2 million, weeklong birthday party for his then-wife that became dubbed “The Tyco Roman Orgy.”

Kozlowski’s world came crashing down in 2002 after a Manhattan-based grand jury indicted for him not paying 8.25% sales tax on $14 million of artwork, according to The New York Times. He stepped down as CEO that year.

That investigation triggered new criminal charges related to Kozlowski’s business operations at Tyco.

A jury convicted Kozlowski of fraud, grand larceny, and conspiracy in 2005. A judge ordered him to pay $167 million in restitution and fines, according to the outlet.

He paid $21.2 million to settle the tax evasion charges and spent over eight years in prison for his Tyco-related crimes. He left prison in 2015.

During an interview with The New York Times later that year, he talked about his past and said he’s living a simpler life in a 2-bedroom apartment in New York City.

“I was piggy,” he said. “But I’m not that person anymore.”