- WeWork is running into major roadblocks as it attempts to go public.
- The company’s cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann is stepping down amid concerns over his management style and incidents of apparent self-dealing.
- In addition to Neumann stepping down, his wife and cofounder, Rebekah Neumann, will also relinquish her roles and titles at the company, a person familiar with the situation told Business Insider.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
WeWork cofounder Rebekah Neumann is stepping down from the company, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The news was first reported by Bloomberg’s Michelle Davis, Ellen Huet, and Gillian Tan.
Neumann, the company’s cofounder, served as chief brand and impact officer, as well as CEO of WeGrow – a subsidiary of WeWork parent The We Company. Now, though, she is said to be relinquishing all her roles and titles.
Unlike WeWork, an office-coworking company, WeGrow is an education-focused company. The company’s website describes WeGrow as “committed to elevating the collective consciousness of the world by expanding happiness and unleashing every human’s superpowers.”
Neumann's husband and cofounder, Adam Neumann, announced his intention to step down as WeWork's CEO on Tuesday after an increasingly strong response to his actions as CEO of the company across the past several years.
"I have decided that it is in the best interest of the company to step down as chief executive," he wrote in a letter published on Tuesday.
The news of both Neumanns stepping down from C-suite roles at The We Company comes amid the company's attempt to go public.
The We Company, valued at $47 billion as recently as early this year, filed an S-1 for its initial public offering in mid-August. Just over one month later, WeWork's parent company is said to have been mulling going public with a valuation in the $10 billion to $12 billion range. Now, its IPO is on ice - it was originally supposed to go public this month, but is now said to be aiming for the end of the year.
The story of what happened is complex and still ongoing, but one particular thread stands out from the last month of WeWork news: CEO Adam Neumann's repeated self-dealing while leading the company.
In the company's S-1 filing to go public, it was revealed that Neumann owns several properties that WeWork leases from him, and that he sold the rights to the word "We" to WeWork (while serving as CEO) for nearly $6 million. He has since given back the money for the naming rights, and committed to giving his profits from the related real-estate deals back to the company.
While Adam will remain on as non-executive chairman of the board, his role as chief executive is being filled by Arthur Minson and Sebastian Gunningham, two WeWork execs, who will serve as co-CEOs.
