SoulCycle Co-Founder Says Her Partners Forced Her Out: What Happened to Ruth Zukerman?

SoulCycle is one of those brands that just feels famous. Candles, packed studios, celebrity regulars, waitlists. But according to co-founder Ruth Zukerman, the story of how it started, and how she left, is far messier than the brand image suggests. In the new documentary“Spin Wars,”Zukerman claims that a year and a half after co-founding SoulCycle in 2006, her partners Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice told her she was no longer a partner. She says two people she personally introduced to each other delivered the news, and she had never signed any paperwork.

The detail that has everyone talking is what she brought to the table. Zukerman came into SoulCycle with a loyal following from a Reebok Club cycling class and was teaching up to 21 classes a week. She didn’t fade away after the split either. She launched Flywheel, a direct competitor to the company she helped build. Now 68, Zukerman says she decided to speak in detail because she would have regretted keeping the story secret, and she calls finally telling it cathartic. Cutler and Rice previously told The New York Times they had decided to part ways with her and wished her the best.

Meanwhile, SoulCycle’s arc has shifted. The brand peaked at close to 99 studios and closed roughly 20 locations in 2022, which adds another layer to the whole“what goes around”conversation.“Spin Wars”also features Peloton co-founder Marion Roaman, so the doc goes well beyond one studio’s drama. If you’ve ever built something with a partner, or watched a friend group turn into a business arrangement, this one is going to hit close to home.

Would you rather start a rival company, or fight it out? Tell us in the comments.