Business

The man who founded a billion rand fitness empire in South Africa

Kirsten Minnaar • 23 September 2025

The first Planet Fitness was founded by New York-born Manny Rivera in September 1995, after the young entrepreneur traded his cushy office job to forge a new business in a foreign country.

What started as a single gym in 1995 is now worth over R1 billion and is one of South Africa’s biggest fitness empires.

Raised in the Bronx in New York, Rivera met his South African wife while working at Bally Total Fitness gyms, the biggest health centre group globally.

Although he started working part-time at the company selling massage equipment, he soon got an offer to sell gym contracts and, within two years, ran the entire Manhattan region for the company.

However, Rivera realised that the corporate life wasn’t for him. So, he and his wife decided to leave New York for South Africa.

Feeling the entrepreneurial calling, Rivera wanted to build a business from the ground up. There was just one problem – he had no capital, no credit history, and no degree.

So, he thought of the plan to approach gym owners and propose that he do their marketing and sales. Anything they made above their current earning would be split between them.

Even though he knew they were likely inflating their profits, this plan proved to be very successful, and Rivera was eventually consulting with gyms around the world. This venture also showed Rivera how little competition South Africa’s fitness market had.

The market was dominated by the Health and Racquet Club, which Virgin Active would acquire in 2000 after its parent company, LeisureNet Group, was liquidated.

At the time of the liquidation, there were 85 Health and Racquet Clubs in South Africa with over 900,000 members. These were rebranded by Virgin Active, which continued its expansion in South Africa.

Seeing an opportunity, Rivera decided to found his own gym. However, Health and Racquet Club’s dominance made it difficult to break into the market and raise capital.

Despite the challenge, Rivera persisted, and in 1995, he opened the first Planet Fitness in Benoni, Johannesburg, along with his co-founder, Mannee de Wet.

Planet Fitness hits a milestone

It wasn’t long before Rivera started expanding the Planet Fitness business, and, by the time there were three locations, he spotted another opportunity.

At the time, Discovery had just launched its Vitality program, and Rivera wanted his gyms to be a part of it. Initially, his attempts to reach Discovery were met with silence.

However, after a handwritten letter Rivera sent to the company grabbed the attention of the then-CEO of Vitality Health, Neville Koopwitz, things started to change.

After giving the team a tour of his three gyms, Discovery Vitality and Rivera, they agreed to work together, and the Vitality and Planet Fitness loyalty program was born. This was a major victory for Rivera’s small gym business.

With its now competitive edge, Planet Fitness continued growing across the country, and eventually, banks and landlords also started coming on board.

Today, after 30 years in business, Planet Fitness is South Africa’s longest-standing health club brand. It has 51 locations across South Africa, making it the country’s second-biggest gym brand, topped only by Virgin Active.

Managing director and co-founder of the business, De Wet, said from the outset, their focus has been on quality over quantity.

“We’ve never been interested in having the most clubs. Our strategy has always been to create a presence in carefully targeted areas,” De Wet explained.

“We treat every new club as an independent business, and we believe in growing our membership base rather than saturating the market with clubs that are too close together.”

Planet Fitness aims to open five new clubs a year until 2030, making a high-quality training experience accessible to more communities throughout South Africa without diluting its brand or member experience.

2025 also marks an impressive growth period for the business, with new clubs opening in Randburg, Boksburg, Durbanville and Fourways Mall.

Of their 51 existing clubs, 37 are in Gauteng’s economically active hub, with the Western Cape being the next major focus.

How Planet Fitness stays on top

With Planet Fitness already welcoming more than 12,000 new members every month, these new clubs are poised to significantly boost their overall membership.

However, De Wet stressed that the number of Planet Fitness members actively training every month is still the most important thing.

“Our clubs see 850,000 members through their doors every month. For us, this high percentage of engagement is a true metric of success,” he said.

The group’s considered growth strategy has paid off. Only around 20 clubs have been closed over the past 30 years, often as part of a relocation to better premises, with members migrating to the new facilities.

Partnerships with health and retail brands have also helped keep the business relevant in a rapidly changing industry. Planet Fitness also continues to evolve its training offerings to meet members’ changing needs.

Newer clubs accommodate the HYROX hybrid training movement and incorporate fit-for-purpose stretch and recovery facilities, both of which are firsts in the local training industry.

Planet Fitness’s point of differentiation, De Wet said, is presence. “We want to be the clubs that people choose because of the experience they have from the moment they walk in,” he said.

“Equipment and facilities matter, but it’s the people, the atmosphere, the service that create belonging. And that’s what keeps our members coming back.”