Since its founding, We Co. has raised more than $12 billion and opened locations in more than 100 cities. The company -- formerly known as WeWork Co. -- bought its current name from Neumann and McKelvey for $5.9 million, one of several arrangements that has drawn scrutiny over the years. Neumann maintains voting control through a three-class share structure and also has been criticized for borrowing the firm’s money, leasing properties he owns back to the company and selling chunks of equity ahead of the planned IPO.
The firm rents space in four buildings owned by Neumann, according to the prospectus. It signed a lease on three of them the day he obtained his stake, and committed to being a tenant in them within the next year.
Such disclosures -- and the billions of dollars of losses the firm has racked up in recent years -- increased unease among investors already frustrated by the lackluster market debuts of Silicon Valley darlings such as Uber Technologies Inc.
WeWork is considering major changes to governance to assuage such concerns, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The company already has taken some steps, such as adding a woman to its board and having Neumann return the $5.9 million of partnership interests initially granted to him as compensation for trademarks used in the rebranding. The company and its biggest backer, SoftBank, are also discussing whether to delay the IPO, people with knowledge of the talks have said.
Neumann probably isn’t hurting for cash, even with a delay. He has already pledged some of his stock to secure a line of credit of as much as $500 million from affiliates of UBS Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Credit Suisse Group AG, according to last month’s prospectus. About $380 million of that total was outstanding at the end of July.
--With assistance from Ellen Huet and Gillian Tan.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.