SoftBank wants to push Neumann out of the CEO role ahead of IPO.
SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is supporting the removal of Adam Neumann as WeWork's CEO
"Masa turns to me and asks, 'In a fight, who wins — the smart guy or the crazy guy?'" Neumann said in an interviewin 2017. "I say, 'Crazy guy,' and he looks at me and says, 'You are correct, but you and [co-founder] Miguel [McKelvey] are not crazy enough.'" The falling out between the two men didn't happen overnight, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions between SoftBank and WeWork are private. SoftBank has been consistently frustrated with Neumann's tendency to brush off advice, from pushing forward with an IPO to using phrases in WeWork's S-1 such as "elevate the world's consciousness" — a phrase SoftBank urged Neumann to eliminate, to no avail, said two of the people.
Installing a new CEO in place of Neumann that would listen to Son could delay an IPO indefinitely. While WeWork has set up $6 billion in loans as a condition of going public with JPMorgan and other banks, the terms of the loan agreement can be modified, one of the people said. SoftBank could also invest privately in WeWork if it needs more capital, the person said.
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