Change of power at WeWork. The controversial president resigns

WeWork, a dynamically developing operator of co-working spaces, has been struggling with big problems in recent weeks. The company planned to debut on the stock exchange this year. After the first investment rounds, it was valued at USD 47 billion, currently it is worth less than half. WeWork first decided to lower the IPO target from USD 40 billion to USD 20 billion, and then suspended the stock exchange debut. It was previously announced that, together with Uber, this would be the most famous public offering in 2019.

Image problems

One of the reasons for the problems with entering the stock exchange are articles that appeared in the American press. The Wall Street Journal harshly described the profile of the company’s president, Adam Neumann. WSJ journalists claim that Neumann is famous for his megalomania. He allegedly said that he should become the president of the world and that he dreamed of eternal life. The president’s image was also affected by the incident described by the newspaper, which allegedly took place on board one of the international flights. WeWork’s CEO allegedly left a box of marijuana on the plane for fear of being accused of smuggling. The company’s image was also damaged by information about controversial methods of personnel management.

The company’s authorities decided to change the management and put the current executive director in the background. He will be replaced by current vice president and chief financial officer Artie Minson and vice president and executive vice president Sebastian Gunningham.

“Even though our company has never been stronger, in recent weeks the investigation underway against me has become a significant obstacle. Therefore, I have decided that it is best for the company for me to resign as executive director,” Adam Neumann wrote in a statement.