WeWork is making cuts following the exit of former CEO Adam Neumann, and things aren’t looking good for friends of the disgraced founder. According to The Wall Street Journal, friends and family of Neumann are first on the chopping block as the company’s new leaders look to downsize.
New co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham are reportedly planning to push out nearly 20 employees with ties to Neumann as part of extensive cuts intended to slim the company. “We will closely review all aspects of our company with the intention of strengthening our core business and improving our management and operations,” the new co-heads wrote in an email to employees after Neumann’s departure. “We anticipate difficult decisions ahead,” they warned.
The highest-level execs being shown the door reportedly include vice chairman Michael Gross, a longtime friend of Neumann, along with the company’s chief product officer, Chris Hill, who is also Neumann’s brother-in-law.
A group of 10 or so employees who worked directly with Neumann in what was referred to internally as the “oval office” will also be leaving the company, the Journal reported.
Also on its way out? Neumann’s $60 million private jet, which will be sold in the new era of WeWork. The Gulfstream G650 had become a subject of intense criticism toward the end of Neumann’s tenure, with sources telling Business Insider the extravagant jet was a “corporate governance red-flag” to to investors ahead of WeWork’s failed IPO.
“The company was spending $60 million on an airplane, and I can’t get a decent raise? It felt like it was ‘We over me,’ unless me was Adam. And We was Adam,” an employee told Business Insider.
Other luxuries may also see themselves out in coming weeks as the company looks to trim the fat in an attempt to launch a successful public offering next year.
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