A fitness app company launched by Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth has laid off all its Australian staff just a year after it was sold for $100 million.
The wellness app Center was bought by a private equity firm owned by the brother of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in March last year – but still features Hemsworth in most of its workouts and promotions.
The app charges $119 a year or $20 a month for content that includes workouts, diets and recipes.
Daily Mail Australia understands that on Monday, all 23 Australian staff at the center were summoned to a meeting and told it was their last day.
The firing comes while Hemsworth, who founded the company in 2019, has been partying in Spain and Ibiza with his wife Elsa Pataky and their children.
It follows the departure of the center’s CEO, Sophie Patterson, who announced her appointment to children’s photo-sharing company TinyBins just a month ago.
A senior creative staffer at the center posted on LinkedIn that she was called into a meeting on Monday and rudely informed that she was being laid off five months into her pregnancy.
Centre, the fitness app launched by Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky, has laid off all its Australian staff just a year after it was sold for $100 million. The Hollywood glamor couple are pictured above on holiday in Spain this week
A senior creative staffer at the center posted on LinkedIn this week (pictured) that he was called into a meeting on Monday and bluntly told that ’23 of us are being laid off’.
The center was bought by a private equity firm owned by the brother of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in March last year – but Hemsworth still features prominently on the app and on its website (pictured) and in many of its workouts and promotions.
‘Monday I woke up excited and optimistic about the future… Five minutes later I attended a last-minute work meeting called “Company Update”,’ the woman wrote.
‘All of you (our 23) are redundant, today is your last day.’
The visual creative, who has since deleted her post, has posted on LinkedIn in the past about having her ‘best year’ with the center in 2021.
Hemsworth and Pataki launched the Center in January 2019 as a provider of ‘digital content, tools and physical materials for people to live happier, healthier lives’.
In three years, it has become a globally recognized health and wellness company.
Hemsworth (pictured) and Pataki launched the center in January 2019 as a provider of ‘digital content, tools and physical materials for people to live happier, healthier lives’
The firing comes while Hemsworth and Pataki, who founded the company in 2019, are enjoying a luxury family vacation in Spain and Ibiza (pictured).
It follows the departure of center CEO Josephine Patterson (pictured), who announced her appointment to children’s photo-sharing company TinyBins just over a month ago.
When it was acquired by High Post Capital, owned by David Morse and Mark Bezos, the company moved its headquarters to Los Angeles but kept a team in Melbourne.
In April 2022, Hemsworth told his 54 million social media followers that he was ‘thrilled’ to be acquired by Mark Bezos.
The Thor star’s massive deal with the younger brother of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is said to make Mark ‘richer’.
Mark Bezos is co-head of New York-based investment group Hypost Capital.
At the time of the sale, a representative for the center said Hemsworth would have an active role in the company and was still a major shareholder.
The company’s website retains the image of Chris Hemsworth as the founder and bears his endorsement.
‘As a leading man in Hollywood, Chris is known for a variety of roles that require serious physical transformation,’ reads the website.
‘He attributes much of his success to his team of world-class experts in fitness, nutrition and wellness. His team with Kendra is now your team.’
The family had previously traveled to Ibiza after celebrating Hemsworth’s father Craig’s 68th birthday in Greece.
Hemsworth, 39, and Pataki, 46, posted a series of photos and videos on Instagram last week showing their family partying on a boat in Spain.
Alongside a photo of the pair in swimwear on Tuesday, Hemsworth wrote in the caption: ‘A little fun in the Spanish sun.
The family had previously traveled to Ibiza after celebrating Hemsworth’s father Craig’s 68th birthday in Greece.
The Thor star also partied with her parents and friend Matt Damon on the Greek island of Mykonos last week.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the center for comment.