Les Mills Snr, who scaled fitness into global IP, dies at 91

Les Mills Snr, New Zealand Olympian and founder of Les Mills International, died at 91 in June 2026. His 1968 Auckland gym became a B2B licensing platform that sold choreography, music, and instructor certification to affiliate operators worldwide rather than owning gyms directly. That structure—positioning fitness closer to media than traditional health clubs—enabled rapid international expansion and made his company a model for scaling consumer services through intellectual property rather than capital-intensive ownership.