Formerly bankrupt weight loss company makes a comeback | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

When it comes to things that most concern Americans about their health, weight loss is often at the top of the list.

While America doesn’t have the top obesity rate in the world, it does rank high on the list. More than 45% of Americans are obese. But the issue is bigger than just in the country — the worldwide rate of adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, per the World Health Organization.

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Attempts to solve this problem have spawned a thriving diet industry, always promoting the next pill, diet plan, or weight-loss gimmick to those desperate to attain better health.

These approaches have all propelled the U.S. weight-loss market to grow over the decades, but the birth of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic sent it to new heights in 2023, with a market value of $90 billion.

It’s a profitable market, but also an overcrowded one, and trying to get people’s attention and stay on the cutting edge of what appeals to consumers presents a daunting challenge that businesses must continually navigate.

Now, after one of the best-known names in the industry seemed to be on the edge of extinction, it’s making a turnaround that few could have predicted — and with a new focus on a long-ignored women’s issue.

WeightWatchers has revealed a new focus for the company.

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The fall of business giant WeightWatchers

After declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of 2025, once-giant WeightWatchers (rebranded to WW beginning in 2018) admitted its $1.5 billion in debt was too big of a burden to continue to bear.

The bankruptcy process would eliminate that debt, the company said, and it expected to reemerge as a publicly traded company.

“The decisive actions we’re taking today, with the overwhelming support of our lenders and noteholders, will give us the flexibility to accelerate innovation, reinvest in our members, and lead with authority in a rapidly evolving weight management landscape,” said CEO Tara Comonte in a release at the time.

WeightWatchers made its debut in the ’60s, at a time when diet and portion control were a focus, and enjoyed many decades of success. The company also got a significant boost when Oprah partnered with it in 2015.

Struggling 62-year-old company rises from the dead

WeightWatchers has now emerged from that bankruptcy with a new focus: helping middle-aged women struggling with all stages of menopause, from peri to post.

The new program will offer access to prescription treatments such as hormone replacement therapy and also help women connect with resources for behavioral and nutritional support, WeightWatchers said.

The company also named Dr. Kim Boyd as its new chief medical officer. Boyd has worked in leadership at One Medical, Calibrate, Caire, Galileo, and Nurx in the past and has co-founded or scaled multiple consumer health companies.

Menopause care has been a hot topic as of late, with high-profile actresses such as Naomi Watts founding new companies to support women going through it.

After Watts experienced early menopause at 36, she founded Stripes Beauty, a brand that sells products aimed at women in all stages of the life change.

WW’s new angle could provide the first large-scale platform for menopausal women, which could take advantage of a once-taboo topic that’s slowly gained more attention in recent years.