Bahram Akradi: The Visionary Founder Behind Life Time
How the Life Time founder transformed the fitness industry into a broader healthy-lifestyle experience
Bahram Akradi is an American entrepreneur, businessman and fitness-industry leader best known as the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Time Group Holdings. He founded Life Time in 1992 after earlier experience in the health-club industry and has led the company for decades. As of 2026, Life Time’s corporate filings list Akradi as 64 years old and confirm that he continues to serve as Founder, Chairman and CEO.
Introduction
Bahram Akradi is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in America’s modern fitness and wellness industry. Rather than building a traditional chain of gyms, he developed a concept centred on what he describes as a broader “Healthy Way of Life”. That vision helped turn Life Time from a single club into a major health, fitness, recreation and wellness business.
Today, Akradi remains closely connected with the company he founded. Life Time Group Holdings is publicly traded, while its operations include athletic country clubs and a wide range of health and wellness services. His career offers an interesting example of how a focused entrepreneurial idea can develop into a large national business.
Who Is Bahram Akradi?
Bahram Akradi is the founder, chairman and CEO of Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. Corporate records state that he founded the company in 1992 and became its chief executive officer and chairman in May 1996. He has more than three decades of experience in healthy-lifestyle initiatives.
His professional background began before Life Time. From 1984 to 1989, Akradi was co-founder and executive vice president of U.S. Swim & Fitness Corporation. The business eventually became part of Bally’s, giving him valuable experience in operating and developing health clubs.
That experience helped shape his later approach to Life Time. Instead of seeing a fitness club simply as a place containing exercise equipment, Akradi envisioned a more complete environment where members could exercise, socialise, relax and pursue healthier lifestyles.
Bahram Akradi Age
How Old Is Bahram Akradi?
As of 2026, Bahram Akradi is 64 years old. His age is officially listed in Life Time Group Holdings’ 2026 proxy statement.
His age has occasionally been reported differently in older online profiles because those sources were published in previous years. For example, corporate filings listed him as 62 in 2024 and 63 in 2025. The 2026 filing lists him as 64.
This makes the 2026 corporate filing the strongest reference for his current age.
Bahram Akradi Career and Life Time
Akradi’s defining professional achievement is the creation of Life Time.
Founding Life Time
In 1992, Akradi took a significant entrepreneurial risk by launching the first Life Time club. In his own account of the company’s beginnings, he explained that he wanted to create something different from the conventional storefront gym model. He believed health clubs should provide a much broader experience and should be designed from the customer’s point of view.
That philosophy became central to Life Time’s development.
Over the years, the company expanded its offerings beyond traditional gym memberships. Its facilities have incorporated fitness, sports, swimming, wellness, dining, childcare and other lifestyle services, helping establish the athletic-country-club model for which Life Time became known.
Leadership at Life Time
Akradi has maintained a remarkably long relationship with the company. He has served as its chief executive and chairman since 1996, according to corporate records.
Life Time later became part of a larger corporate structure, and Life Time Group Holdings completed its initial public offering in 2021. Akradi continued as chairman and CEO following the public listing.
His continued leadership is one of the most notable aspects of his business career.
Bahram Akradi Family
Information about Bahram Akradi’s family is more limited than information about his professional life. However, some family details have been publicly discussed by Akradi himself and in corporate records.
Akradi has at least two children. In a personal article published by Experience Life, he referred to his daughter Meghan Akradi and his son Akiliez.
Meghan Akradi has also developed a professional connection with Life Time. The company’s 2026 proxy statement identifies her as Akradi’s daughter and states that she serves as Vice President, Real Estate and Location Intelligence at Life Time.
Akradi has also written about his relationship with Meghan, particularly their shared interest in environmental issues and healthy living. In a 2026 Experience Life article, he described her as his oldest daughter and discussed how she had influenced his thinking about environmental responsibility.
Details about other members of his private family life are not extensively documented in authoritative sources, so claims about his spouse or other relatives should be treated carefully.
Bahram Akradi Net Worth
Bahram Akradi’s net worth is not officially published as a single verified figure. Online estimates vary substantially because his wealth is connected partly to ownership of publicly traded securities whose values change with the market.
For example, Benzinga estimated his net worth at approximately $896 million in May 2026. MarketScreener reported an estimate of approximately $664 million in June 2026, while GuruFocus estimated at least $708 million in July 2026.
Another financial database produced a substantially lower estimate because it used a narrower calculation of identifiable holdings.
Therefore, it is more responsible to say that Bahram Akradi is a multimillionaire whose estimated net worth is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, rather than presenting one website’s figure as an official fact.
Bahram Akradi Wikipedia
Does Bahram Akradi Have a Wikipedia Page?
People searching for Bahram Akradi Wikipedia may expect to find a dedicated biography similar to those available for many prominent business leaders. However, there does not appear to be a substantial dedicated English Wikipedia biography for Akradi in the sources reviewed for this profile.
That does not mean he lacks a significant public record. His career is extensively documented through Life Time’s corporate filings, SEC records, company publications and financial databases.
For accurate research, these primary corporate sources are more useful than an unsourced biography page because they provide current information about his age, position, corporate history and ownership interests.
Bahram Akradi’s Leadership Philosophy
One of Akradi’s biggest contributions to the fitness business is his emphasis on customer experience.
His early vision was to move beyond the idea of a basic gym and create environments where people could pursue different aspects of a healthy lifestyle in one place. This approach helped Life Time distinguish itself from conventional fitness chains.
His own experiences have also influenced his leadership philosophy. Akradi has participated in demanding endurance events and has written about health, fitness, family and personal challenges. His public writing frequently connects business with broader ideas about wellbeing and personal development.
Other Business Leadership
Akradi’s influence extends beyond Life Time. He serves as chairman of Northern Oil & Gas, an energy company, adding another major corporate leadership position to his career. Life Time’s corporate governance information confirms his role with Northern Oil & Gas.
His involvement across different industries demonstrates that his career has developed beyond fitness entrepreneurship into broader corporate leadership, strategy and capital management.
Why Bahram Akradi Remains Important
Bahram Akradi’s story is significant because he identified a shift in how consumers viewed health and fitness before the modern wellness industry reached its current scale.
His original idea was relatively simple: people wanted more than a place to work out. They wanted an environment that supported a healthier lifestyle. Life Time developed that idea into a large business model combining fitness, recreation, wellness and community.
More than three decades after founding the company, Akradi remains at its centre. His longevity as a founder and CEO is unusual, particularly as Life Time has grown from a privately developed fitness concept into a publicly traded company.
Conclusion
Bahram Akradi’s career is a story of long-term entrepreneurship, innovation and persistence. From his early experience with U.S. Swim & Fitness to founding Life Time in 1992, he helped reshape the traditional health-club model around a broader vision of healthy living.
At 64, Akradi remains Founder, Chairman and CEO of Life Time Group Holdings. His estimated wealth places him among America’s most financially successful fitness entrepreneurs, although exact figures vary considerably. His family has also become connected with the Life Time business, with daughter Meghan holding a leadership position within the company.
While searches for Bahram Akradi Wikipedia may produce limited results, his professional record is well documented through corporate and regulatory sources. His enduring role at Life Time makes him a notable figure in the fitness, wellness and business world.
