Morningstar

Xponential Fitness to Pay $17 Million in FTC Settlement Over Franchisee Practices

Provided by Dow Jones

By Katherine Hamilton 




  Xponential Fitness will pay $17 million back to franchisees to settle Federal Trade Commission claims of deceptive practices. 



  The FTC alleges Xponential, which sells franchises for fitness brands such as Club Pilates, Pure Barre and StretchLab, misrepresented information about the costs, risks and time to open and operate studios. 



  Xponential falsely claimed it would take six months to get a studio up and running, while franchisees have typically taken more than a year to do so, the FTC claimed. 



  The company also omitted the names of franchisees who had ceased to do business with Xponential, and didn't provide complete and timely franchise disclosure documents, the FTC said. 



  The company didn't tell franchisees that its former chief executive, Anthony Geisler, had been repeatedly sued for fraud. Geisler was removed as CEO in May 2024 following a federal investigation. 



  The news comes about a week after Xponential's Chief Financial Officer John Meloun departed from the company. 





  Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com 





  (END) Dow Jones Newswires



  March 18, 2026 14:18 ET (18:18 GMT)


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