The world's top fitness influencer whose Instagram-based 'bikini body guide' made her a millionaire has sold her empire for $400m

• Kayla Itsines sold her fitness platform, Sweat, to iFIT in a $400 million deal.
• The Sweat app generated nearly $100 million in revenue last year.
• Itsines went from training clients in her parent's backyard to dominating the online fitness world.

Kayla Itsines, a personal trainer whose Instagram videos turned her into the world's top fitness influencer, announced a new chapter for her brand today.

Itsines rose to fame with her Bikini Body Guide (BBG), a 12-week workout program that quickly amassed a cult following on social media.

On Tuesday, Itsines announced that she and her business partner and ex-fiancé, Toby Pearce, have sold their workout platform, now known as Sweat, in a reported $400 million deal with iFIT.

For context, that sum is just a little less than the GDP of Micronesia, Mia Mercado wrote for The Cut.

The sale of Itsines and Pearce's empire is a huge moment for fitness influencers, showing the potential to build not only a bikini body, but also a lucrative online following.

Itsines went from personal trainer to global star - all via social media

The Australian personal trainer's Bikini Body Guide started out as an e-book in 2014. As Itsines posted before-and-after photos of herself and clients on Instagram, she began gaining followers - she now has more than 13 million.

Following the guide's success, Itsines launched the Bikini Body Training Company with Pearce. The couple rebranded their company as Sweat in 2015, and their massive online fitness community only grew larger.

The Sweat app, also known as "Sweat with Kayla," featured the BBG content Itsines' followers already loved, along with workout programs from four other trainers. It was the most downloaded fitness app in 2016. The next year, Forbes named Itsines the world's top fitness influencer and the "Internet's undisputed workout queen."

Sweat made nearly $100 million last year

In an Instagram post, Itsines reminisced on her company's humble beginnings.

"I remember running one-on-one sessions in my parents' backyard and them growing into bigger group sessions in the local park here in Adelaide," the Australian influencer wrote.

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines)

Since its inception, the Sweat app has been downloaded more than 30 million times. In 2020, the app generated $99.5 million in revenue. It also made Itsines and Pearce millionaires - they were each worth an estimated $209 million prior to the deal, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The multi-million-dollar deal will be shared between the exes and business partners. As for the future of Sweat, Itsines said her original workouts aren't going anywhere.

"I will still be your trainer and all of our programs are not changing or going anywhere," Itsines wrote on Instagram.

Sweat will remain a standalone brand in the iFIT family, Itsines wrote. (The global fitness and technology company also owns several other brands including NordicTrack, ProForm, and Freemotion.)

"I want to say thank you to anyone who downloaded my original PDFs, shared a Sweaty selfie with me on Instagram or who came to one of my bootcamps," the post continues. "We have all come a long way together but this is only just the beginning."