F45’s wealthy founders and investors: Where they are now

As the F45 chain of franchises starts to collapse, the founders and super star investors have moved on to other ventures and major property portfolios.

F45’s wealthy founders and investors: Where they are now?

• Inside F45’s multimillion-dollar celebrity feuds

As the F45 fitness chain of franchises starts to collapse the very wealthy founders and super star investors have moved on to other ventures and major property portfolios.

Co-founders Rob Deutsch and Adam Gilchrist have spent up big on property, after making big bucks out of the F45 public listing on the New York Stock Exchange, both buying sought-after homes in blue chip locations.

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg, who said the company caught his eye due to his interest in fitness, has profited handsomely after selling his F45 stock also and benefited nicely from throwing it into the property market.

This is what the trio now own.

Mark Wahlberg and F45 Founder and CEO Adam Gilchrist pose on the trading floor the company lists on the NYSE. Picture: Getty

ROB DEUTSCH

Founder Rob Deutsch, who received an estimated US$145m ($A215m) after selling his stake before the company floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, continues to live well.

Three weeks ago, he and model wife Nicole Person added to an already bulging luxury property portfolio by splashing $36m on a mansion in exclusive Sydney suburb Bellevue Hill.

Inside the Bellevue Hill home in Sydney.

He sold his former Bronte beachfront home in April last year for $17.7m.

“I’m upset for the franchisees, I’m upset for the business and the investors,” Mr Deutsch told News Corp.

Rob Deutsch, ex-owner of F45 gyms, with his wife Nicole. Picture: Instagram

And his new $36m home.

And the pool.

The dog-friendly kitchen.

“I wish them all nothing but the best for the future – there’s definitely a turnaround potential there.”

Deutsch has since moved on from F45 to turn his focus to start-up Markot – a mobile app where parents can list baby products they’ve used. The products are sent to the warehouse, cleaned, sanitised and packaged up and resold.

The father of two said inspiration for the idea came during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Inside Deutsch’s new Eastern Suburbs home.

And his former $17.7m Bronte beachfront.

That was front and centre at Bronte.

Which boasted ocean views from almost every room.

“I looked around the house, and there was just so much baby stuff that we just hadn’t used or used once, and for me it was just a pure decluttering issue,” he told The Australian.

“The problem with Facebook or Gumtree is buyers get your phone number, they come to your house, they walk through your house, you’ve got to meet them, they message and try and barter with you,” he said.

Deutsch also purchased a block of flats overlooking Bondi Beach from Auschwitz survivor Freda Feuerstein for $20.65m in December 2020.

The Bondi Beach property. Picture: realestate.com.au

There were rumours Deutsch might have been looking to start a fitness business in the retail space in the beachfront block but that never came to light.

According to property records, early plans and artist illustrations have been made in a move towards developing the block however that is yet to be realised also.

F45 owner Rob Deutsch, right, with actor Mark Wahlberg, who bought a minority stake in the company in 2019. Picture: Instagram / F45 Training

The property was listed for sale for 123 days between March and July last year before being pulled from market

Property records reveal Deutsch remains the owner of the block.

F45 Training Gyms Co-Founder Rob Deutsch at his new start-up Markot in Sydney. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian

Artists illustrations for what the development of the Bondi Beach unit block could look like.

ADAM GILCHRIST

After the stock exchange listing, co-founder and former chief executive Adam Gilchrist (not the cricketer), emerged owning a quarter of the company, worth US$367m ($A540m) at the time.

But Gilchrist, who left the company last July as it admitted it would not hit its forecasts, has disappeared from sight.

He ‘raised the bar’ in Sydney’s highly sought-after Northern Beaches property market with two record-breaking purchases in the family friendly enclave of Freshwater, which sits just north of its better known and far busier neighbour Manly.

F45 founder Adam Gilchrist (far right) at a company function.

He first bought into Freshwater in 2017, as Sydney was slowly recovering from it’s worst housing slump in perhaps three decades, paying $5.4m sight unseen for a bungalow in Ocean View Rd.

Locals were agog at the price — $1.3m over the reserve and a new record for the suburb. At the time the median house price in Freshwater was only $2,315,000.

A year later he hit the headlines again, this time paying $14m for his neighbour’s house and more than double the suburb record at the time of $5.9m.

Agents shook their heads at the double-digit figure saying it was an outlier price and unlikely to be matched for many years.

Those predictions proved to be well placed when Gilchrist sold 52 Ocean View Rd Freshwater on August 13, last year for $14.05m, meaning he would have taken a hit on the home when other costs such as stamp duty were taken into consideration.

Gilchrist’s former Freshwater home.

Right on the beachfront.

With a luxurious interior and beautiful view.

Gilchrist then sold 50 Ocean View Rd, Freshwater on 11 October for $8.75m.

Previously he had sold another prized property asset, at 11 Marine Pde, Byron Bay for $18.85m on 25 March 2019.

In March 21, Gilchrist secured the last of four units in a mid 1970s unit block at Lennox Head, on the NSW North Coast between Byron Bay and Ballina.

His final acquisition on the dress circle Seven Mile Beach cost him dearly, though as its long-time owner endodontist Syd Bader had proclaimed once, “not everything in this world is for sale”.

Gilchrist’s old beachfront in Byron Bay.

With quite the view too.

And a north-facing, beachfront garden.

Property records reveal Gilchrist dropped an eye-watering $3.2m to secure the final unit in the block, a 2-bed, 1-bath, unit with 75 sqm of living space.

It bought the cost of the block to a total of $8.15m.

According to property records, the four units in the block remain owned by Eligil Pty Ltd, a company registered to Gilchrist.

On leaving F45 mid-last year Gilchrist said he was “forever grateful”.

“To the staff that have worked tirelessly since our inception, you have been incredible in your efforts, and I thank you for all of your support,” he said.

“To the investors that have joined us along our journey, I thank you for your commitment to F45.

“Lastly, I am forever grateful to our franchisees who deliver the world’s best workout each day to F45 members around the world.”

F45 co-founder Adam Gilchrist still owns this apartment block in Lennox Head

MARK WAHLBERG

In 2019, Wahlberg acquired a 36 per cent stake in F45 Training – investing $US110 million ($AU162.5m) into the company through investment firm MWIG.

“I’m a fitness fanatic. I fell in love with F45 after I walked into a gym and saw people from all walks of life, all levels of fitness, working out together,” Wahlberg said at the time.

Bloomberg reported Wahlberg made a profit of at least $US200m (AU$295.5m) from his interests in F45.

The Hollywood superstar was a leading figure in promoting F45 as its popularity skyrocketed and during his NYSE listing, regularly appearing in marketing collateral for F45 and pictures with both Deutsch and Gilchrist.

Mark Wahlberg promoting F45.

The former Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch singer was front and centre as F45 was hit the New York bourse in 2021.

Like Deutsch and Gilchrist before him, Wahlberg enjoyed a big win with F45, selling 1.1 million shares in March and April 2022 for $US17.45 million (AU$25.7m).

Wahlberg has finally offloaded his Beverly Hills mansion for $55m (AU$79.7m) last month — a huge $32.5m (AU$47.1m) less than its initial listing of $87.5m (AU$116m) in April 2022.

Mark Wahlberg home has sold his Beverly Hills mansion for almost $80m.

The enormous 2.5ha estate located in the exclusive North Beverly Park gated community has a sprawling 2,830 sqm home that features 12 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms.

Wahlberg said he has moved his family from California to Nevada for “a better life.”

He recently appeared on The Talk where he addressed balancing work and fatherhood.

“That is the biggest challenge,” he said. “Every free moment that I have, I’m at home.”

“I want to be able to work from home. I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting and I’ve only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there,” he said.

Mark Wahlberg's new property purchase in Nevada. Picture: The Summit Club

“So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams, whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us.”

He has bought a $15.6m (AU$23.049m) 2.5-acre block of land he plans to build on, as well as a $14.5m (AU$21.4m) bungalow to live in as construction begins, according to Elite Agent.

The home he bought is based in the resort community “The Summit Club” in Summerlin, and the two-storey home contains four spacious bedrooms, four bathrooms and two half baths.

Wahlberg, who has a net worth of around $600m has moved onto his latest blockbuster movie, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which is set to be released in June this year.