WeightWatchers CEO is suddenly out of a job : Low-Carb War Zone Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

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Today, 10:57

doreen T doreen T is offline

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WeightWatchers CEO is suddenly out of a job

https://www.axios.com/2024/09/27/we...w-international

Sep 27, 2024 - by Nathan Bomey

Quote:

The CEO of WeightWatchers is abruptly out of a job amid growing uncertainty about the company's future following its pivot under her leadership to embracing weight-loss drugs.

Why it matters: Tech executive Sima Sistani sent WeightWatchers in a new direction after she took over in early 2022, acknowledging that weight loss isn't necessarily a matter of willpower and acquiring a telehealth company that markets anti-obesity drugs.

Driving the news: WW International — the company's corporate name — said Friday in a surprise announcement that Sistani is exiting as CEO and as a member of the board.

Board member Tara Comonte — who previously served as president and CFO of burger chain Shake Shack — is taking over as interim CEO.
WW said Comonte would "sharpen its strategic focus, and evolve its behavioral and clinical offerings to drive growth."

The big picture: The shakeup comes after WeightWatcher's stock dipped below $1 in recent months as investors lose confidence in the company's outlook.

The company turned a $23 million profit in its most recent quarter, but revenue fell 10.9% compared with a year earlier.
Oprah Winfrey also left WeightWatcher's board earlier this year, though she later hosted an event featuring Sistani about how users of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound shouldn't be stigmatized.

What they're saying: Morningstar analyst Sean Dunlop tells Axios that Sistani's departure "doesn't bode well" as it looks increasingly like weight-loss drugs are supplanting WeightWatchers for many would-be dieters.

"With the proliferation of GLP-1 drugs, that appears to be the point we've hit, and the acquisition they made ... has apparently been insufficient to offset," Dunlop writes in an email.

Flashback: Sistani alienated some of WeightWatchers' most loyal members when she reduced the number of in-person meetings the company popularized, saying WeightWatchers needed to be more digitally minded.

More recently, the company continued its cost-cutting with plans for an additional $100 million in annualized savings.
But the stock has only fallen further since Sistani blasted "breathless media coverage" in March, saying in a statement that "our business is healthy, and we are well-positioned for the future as we continue our transformation."

The bottom line: WW's stock was down nearly 4% in early trading to 82 cents. The company started the year with a market value of nearly $700 million, a number that's dwindled to $65 million Friday.

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#2 ^

Today, 13:02

Calianna

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I'm not even sure what the point is of WW any more, since counting points has been the primary premise of their weight loss plans for decades. The drugs work in such a way that you don't need to count anything. If you eat too much, or eat the "wrong" thing, you suffer the consequences pretty quickly (nausea, vomiting).

The drugs don't work for everyone, but they're still a pretty sure thing - very few people end up not losing any weight on them, especially if they progress to the highest dosage. And generally speaking, most people find the weight loss itself to be incentive to stay on the drugs, as long as the side effects aren't intolerable.

On the other hand, doing one of the Weight Watcher's plans is far less expensive than the drugs, even if it generally means struggling with hunger, which is why so many people would give up on WW so often, then try again, rinse and repeat, over and over for years... decades.

With the lawsuits against the drug companies over serious side effects though, it's entirely possible that Weight Watchers will eventually rise from the ashes to be the darling of weight loss again.