Life Time went through a $4.3 billion leveraged buyout in 2015 and re-IPO'd in 2021, and its wage record includes three settlements: $976,000 to the DOL in 2016 over claims that roughly 16,000 workers were underpaid via uniform deductions, $750,000 to instructors in 2019, and a $1.25 million California class settlement approved in 2025. Founder Bahram Akradi has stayed CEO throughout — but 185 clubs with pools, saunas, and steam rooms carry one of the largest per-location energy footprints in fitness, with only self-published ESG reporting behind it. The company answers to public shareholders and a 14-club-per-year growth plan.