Apple confirmed to the New York Times that Jay Blahnik, the company’s vice president of Fitness Technologies, will retire in July. Here are the details.

Jay Blahnik Retiring After 13 Years at Apple

The New York Times reported, "Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies, is retiring this summer […]," stating that Blahnik’s 13-year tenure at Apple is coming to an end.

When Blahnik joined Apple in 2013, he thought most of his work would be related to the Apple Watch; at that time, the device had not yet been announced.

This was partly true, as Blahnik’s contributions were not limited to the Apple Watch. He helped develop the device’s Activity Rings and also led the development of the Apple Fitness+ subscription service launched in 2020.

Here is a video of Blahnik introducing the Apple Fitness+ studio to iJustine in 2022:

More recently, things took a turn. Last August, the New York Times reported that "on the record, Mr. Blahnik created a toxic work environment, as stated by nine current and former employees who worked with or for Mr. Blahnik, on the condition of anonymity."

The report claimed that sources told the Times that Blahnik’s behavior contributed to more than 10 employees requesting extended mental health or medical leave since 2022, which accounted for about 10% of the team.

The report provided multiple examples of employees alleging inappropriate behavior by Blahnik, including verbal harassment, sexual comments, and retaliation claims, and noted that in at least one instance, Apple resolved a sexual harassment claim.

Since then, Blahnik has largely stayed out of the spotlight, but it was reported that Apple’s internal investigation found "no wrongdoing."

Today, the NYT reported:

In an email sent to employees this week, Apple stated that 57-year-old Mr. Blahnik will retire in July and expressed a desire to "spend time with his family and make an exciting move to New York City."

Apple has not yet confirmed whether it will seek someone to replace Blahnik or if his responsibilities will be redistributed among current executives.

Last November, Bloomberg reported that the future of Apple Fitness+ was being "reviewed" as the service continued to be one of the company’s "weakest digital offerings."

At that time, Mark Gurman noted that a new management would take over the division, with Apple Health head Sumbul Desai adding Fitness+ to her portfolio, which was part of a broader restructuring following Eddy Cue's takeover of the company’s health and fitness teams.

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