Xponential Fitness misled franchisees on costs and executive lawsuits — $17M

Xponential Fitness Inc., based in Irvine, California, built a fitness studio empire through franchising brands including Club Pilates, Pure Barre, YogaSix, StretchLab, and BFT. It sold franchise licences to thousands of prospective owners across the United States, charging an average initial fee of $45,000 per studio with a 10-year franchise agreement.

What the company's Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDDs) did not tell prospective franchisees was that former CEO Anthony Geisler had been repeatedly sued for fraud, that the former President of Franchise Development had an undisclosed bankruptcy, and that franchisees typically took more than a year — not the promised six months — to open their studios after signing. The FDDs also misreported or omitted the names and contact information of franchisees whose studios had closed.

The FTC found that Xponential failed to provide timely, complete, and accurate FDDs at least 14 days before signing as required by the FTC's Franchise Rule. Franchisees paid substantial fees and entered long-term commitments without knowing that the opening timelines were systematically misrepresented, that key executives carried undisclosed litigation histories, and that many previous franchisees had struggled or failed.

On March 18, 2026, the FTC announced a $17 million settlement with Xponential — the largest amount ever returned to consumers in a franchise rule enforcement action. The company is permanently prohibited from misrepresenting material facts about its franchise offerings and must comply with all Franchise Rule requirements, including providing complete and accurate FDDs. The order also imposes ongoing compliance reporting and FTC monitoring for ten years.