Share

ANALYSIS | WeWork, WeWait, WeWorry: What's next for CEO Adam Neumann?

Steve Schwarzman has doubts. So does Larry Ellison.

And so, too, do the growing numbers of Wall Street bankers and investors who are all anxiously awaiting the next move by WeWork and its brash co-founder, Adam Neumann.

Neumann was a no-show this week for a long-planned appearance at a SoftBank Group three-day retreat in Pasadena, California, according to people familiar with the matter, a further sign that company executives are hunkering down.

Once the WeWork initial public offering was postponed late Monday, organisers knew Neumann's presence would be iffy, the people said. His planned appearance was rescheduled from the first day of the event at the Langham hotel to the last and then canceled altogether.

In short order Neumann's office-sharing company has gone from a get-rich story to a you've-got-to-be-joking melodrama – from WeWork to WeWait to, now, WeWorry.

It was a brutal week. First, WeWork's parent company, We Company, finally conceded that its grandiose plans for going public would have to wait.

Then Schwarzman, one of the most powerful figures on Wall Street, threw shade on the company's hoped-for valuation, which has already collapsed from upwards of $60bn to $15bn – or lower.

"I sort of went, what? How do you get this?" Schwarzman, the head of private equity giant Blackstone Group, said of the early numbers Wednesday at a luncheon in New York. Ellison, chairman of Oracle, went further, according to Barron's. He told a group of entrepreneurs at his San Francisco home that day that WeWork is "almost worthless."

And it only gets worse. In London, two deals for major office buildings that are largely leased out to WeWork started to fray. Back in its hometown of New York, the company made a small round of job cuts. And the Wall Street Journal, examining WeWork's over-the-top culture, reported that Neumann and his friends smoked marijuana on a private jet en route to Israel last summer – and left a chunk of the drug behind, spurring the plane's owner to summon it back.

If all that weren't enough, Neumann's own bankers were getting antsy: They were looking to revise a $500m credit line secured by WeWork stock – an acknowledgment that those shares appear far less solid than they used to.

New risks

And, by Friday, Wendy Silverstein, a big name in New York commercial real estate who joined WeWork last year as head of its property investment arm, had left the company. She's spending time caring for her elderly parents.

Even the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston was adding to the angst. In a speech Friday in New York, Eric Rosengren warned that the proliferation of co-working spaces might pose new risks to financial stability.

A WeWork representative declined to comment on Neumann's canceled appearance at the SoftBank conference, citing the pre-IPO quiet period. SoftBank also declined to comment.

Rarely has so much gone so wrong so fast for a young company in the spotlight. Neumann has begrudgingly agreed to cede some of his powers. The question now: Will that be enough?

"I've never seen a company of this size and scale generate such a consensus of negative opinion in my long, long life of following IPOs," said Len Sherman, a Columbia Business School adjunct professor whose 30-year business career included time as a senior partner at consulting firm Accenture.

"There is no box that they haven't ticked when you think of all the reasons that you might be very concerned – like blaring red lights. Like, oh my gosh, caution, danger, danger."

WeWork now hopes to go public next month. But even that may be optimistic. Neumann, also We Company's chief executive officer, has to persuade investors that his company – which has raised more than $12bn since its founding and never turned a nickel of profit – is worth billions on the stock market.

Deadline looms

Time is short. WeWork must complete its IPO before the end of the year to keep access to a crucial $6bn loan.

The company's $669m of bonds due in 2025 have dropped 5 cents this week to 97.75 cents on the dollar as of Thursday, according to the Trace bond-price reporting system.

A few hours after the Journal story hit Wednesday, investors at a Goldman Sachs Group conference in New York heard from Snap's Evan Spiegel – Neumann's predecessor as a celebrated startup founder whose behavior and company control attracted unflattering attention as the unicorn went public in 2017.

He was asked what advice he'd give to founders looking to become CEOs of companies that have to answer to shareholders. His answer: "Don't go public."

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.94
-0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.91
-0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.43
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.34
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.2%
Platinum
910.50
+1.5%
Palladium
1,011.50
+1.0%
Gold
2,221.35
+1.2%
Silver
24.87
+0.9%
Brent-ruolie
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders