WW International appoints Stephen Bye as its next CEO

Stephen Bye will become president and chief executive officer of WW International, the company behind Weight Watchers, this fall. Bye, most recently president and CEO of Ookla, will also join WW’s board of directors, succeeding Tara Comonte after her departure from the top role.\n\nWW’s board unanimously supported the appointment, according to the company announcement. The choice brings in an operator whose recent work centered on scaling a consumer subscription business, improving efficiency and integrating acquisitions—experience that the board says fits the company’s next phase.\n\nA subscription operator for the next chapter\n\nBefore Ookla, Bye held senior roles across wireless and communications, including CEO of Connectivity Wireless, president of C Spire and chief technology officer of Sprint. He has also worked at Cox Communications, AT&T, BellSouth International, Optus Communications and Telstra.\n\nReuters independently reported the appointment, while WW’s release identified Gene Davis, chairman of the board, and Nikolaj Sjoqvist, chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, as leaders supporting the transition. The effective date remains this fall; the company did not publish a more specific day in the announcement.