When WeWork's directors voted on Tuesday to oust Adam Neumann as chief exec...
NEW YORK - When WeWork’s directors voted on Tuesday to oust Adam Neumann as chief executive after a failed attempt to take the office-sharing startup public, Neumann cast his vote against himself, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The falling estimates came as a shock to Son, who had ploughed in more than $10 billion to WeWork, the last investment at a $47 billion valuation, according to three people familiar with the matter. At that level, WeWork was the world’s fourth-most valuable private startup, according to data firm CB Insights. By the time the IPO was pulled, estimates of WeWork’s value had come down as low as $10 billion.
Neumann decided to back the management changes because he became convinced they were in the best interest of the company, according to a person close to him. Neumann owns about a quarter of WeWork, sources have previously said, tying much of his wealth to the company. WeWork has not disclosed what percentage of the company he owns.SoftBank and WeWork declined to comment.Things looked very different just a year ago.
Son backed down. In January, he agreed to a more modest $2 billion investment in WeWork at valuations of up to $47 billion.Much is at stake for Son, ranked by Forbes as Japan’s second-richest person. Perhaps best known for his $20-million investment in 2000 to the then-obscure Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , the 62-year-old billionaire executive has become one of the most powerful investors in the world. But his investment record is coming under greater scrutiny.
This time, the source added, Mubadala is looking at having a larger voice in how the fund deploys its money.Son started to have some misgivings about WeWork this summer, as he grew concerned that the company would not be able to achieve a $47 billion value in an IPO, two of the sources said.
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