24 Apr 2023
F45 names Mark Wahlberg as chief brand officer and Tom Dowd as CEO as Adam Gilchrist resigns
BY Tom Walker
More big moves are underway at F45, as the company reboots its senior management team with the appointment of Tom Dowd as CEO and Mark Wahlberg as chief brand officer. Co-founder Adam Gilchrist resigned from the board on 21 April. He had previously stepped down as CEO in July 2022.
Dowd – an early investor in F45 – succeeds outgoing interim CEO, Ben Coates, who stepped in on Gilchrist's resignation. He remains on the company’s board of directors.
Prior to his new role, he spent 25 years at GNC Holdings in a variety of executive leadership roles and, more recently, co-founded lifestyle nutrition company Performance Inspired.
Actor Mark Wahlberg has been a member of the F45 board since March 2019 and worked with Dowd on Performance Inspired.
Gilchrist, who had a background in franchising collaborated with F45 founder, Rob Deutsch. They went on to establish F45 in Sydney in 2014.
The major executive moves follow the company’s recent announcement that it had secured US$90m worth of new financing to improve its balance sheet from a consortium of investors led by Kennedy Lewis Management, which made an unsolicited bid for the business in September 2022.
Gene Davis, chair of F45, said: "“Tom has significant experience building successful franchise model and consumer goods businesses, cultivating globally resonant lifestyle brands, and developing high-performing teams, making him well suited to lead F45 into the future.
"We're also thrilled that Mark will be deepening his involvement with F45 and look forward to benefitting from his unique blend of business acumen and branding expertise.
"I'm confident that under the leadership of Tom, Mark, and the rest of the management team, F45 will be poised to build on its strengths while evolving to unlock its full potential.
"As we look ahead to the significant opportunities in front of us, I would also like to thank Ben for his contributions as interim CEO during a period of transition.”
Commenting on his new role, Walhberg said: “Just like our incredible training community, F45 has been laser-focused in recent months on getting stronger and stronger.
“I'm confident in our ability to enhance what I believe is already the world’s best workout for studio operators and our more than 300,000 committed members across the globe.”
The company continues to grapple with some fundamental issues and on 14 April, it received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange indicating that it is not in compliance as a result of its failure to file its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2022.
NYSE has granted an extension to enable the company to regain compliance before delisting proceedings begin in six months if the accounts are not forthcoming.
F45 has stated that it expects to backdate changes to the results of its 2021 annual report, including increases in allowances for doubtful and bad debts and the downgrading in value of assets acquired by the Company.
F45 was valued at US$1.4bn after its IPO in 2021. Its share prices indicate a current value of US$74.33m – a 90 per cent drop over the last year.
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