Publications
Publications
- October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
- HBS Case Collection
Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Abstract
By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting fraud, which indicated that it had never made a profit, several groups of investors tried to rescue the company, but their efforts were to no avail. It was an ignominious end.
Keywords
Bally Total Fitness; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Business Earnings; Revenue Recognition; Financial Statements; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; For-Profit Firms; Crime and Corruption; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Financial Condition; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Investment Activism; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Business History; Executive Compensation; Resignation and Termination; Annual Reports; Contracts; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Health Industry; Accounting Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago
Citation
Wells, John R., and Gabriel Ellsworth. "Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016." Harvard Business School Supplement 717-422, October 2016. (Revised January 2017.)