INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
reporting that it is SoftBank specifically that wants Neumann to step down
cofounder and longtime CEO Travis Kalanick to abandon his role as CEO
continued to push off an IPO, Benchmark was not in a do-or-die situation because of its Uber investment.SoftBank appears to be in more dire
way this could potentially go
board member of WeWork for roughly five years, and BI says WeWork once loaned him $6.3 million, which he repaid with interest earlier this
each.3.) Benchmark, which first backed WeWork in 2012, is represented on the board by Bruce Dunlevie, the founding partner of the venture
Benchmark owns 32.6 million Class A shares, and could go either way, seemingly
SoftBank over Neumann, it risks this exact thing happening
with Neumann, and he has benefited richly from the association
According to an April story in the WSJ, Langman met Neumann through a shared rabbi in its earlier days and joined the board in 2012
He also invested in the company (he owns 2.28 million shares, according to a bond filing)
He also runs a real-estate investment vehicle in partnership with We that buys and develops buildings to then lease back to the co-working
company, despite that it raises conflict-of-interest questions
According to The Information, he remains a confidante of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.6.) John Zhao is the chairman and CEO of Hony Capital,
which partnered with SoftBank and WeWork to create a standalone entity called WeWork China back in 2017, and Hony has subsequently poured
more capital into that subsidiary
far more powerful than any of these six individuals
already battling growing public perception that, among other negatives for a public company CEO, he smokes a whole lot of pot and that he
(A WSJ piece last week reported that Neumann likes to smoke marijuana with friends and while airborne
that said, SoftBank is also fast-losing credibility
sunk into WeWork, the financial loss it would take if WeWork falls apart would pale in comparison to the reputational hit Son would suffer,
Stay tuned.Correction: An earlier version of this story did not include WeWork board member Mark Schwartz.
