The Board Is The Bigger WeWork Story (Not The New Or Old CEOs)

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The news, like the CEO, is out, WeWork wunderkinder slash all around interesting ‘character’, Adam Neumann is no longer the CEO of WeWork but this doesn’t mean WeWork’s problems will go away, possibly the opposite. WeWork isn’t about to start miraculously turning a profit and changing its ways until a certain board of directors takes a long hard look in the mirror.

Diversity and gender issues aside (although these say volumes), the board only took action when there was a significant public call for change happened. A good board doesn’t wait for this to happen. A good board makes changes and applies pressure to steer leaders, hold the accountable and make them better. Perhaps the move was a long time in the planning but this isn’t backed up by anything on record. The issue isn’t the length of time it took, it’s the motivation it too that speaks volumes about the future. The fact that this is the motivation the board required for change is unlikely to calm media, stakeholder and consumer fears that WeWork isn’t a great business or a force for good. The Board isn’t exactly overflowing but money and old money. Recent addition, Frei, was the first woman and is ex-Uber:

• Ronald Fisher is vice chairman at SoftBank Group Ronald Fisher is the former CEO of Phoenix Technologies.
• Lewis Frankfort is the chairman of fitness-studio chain Flywheel Sports Lewis and former CEO of Coach.
• Bruce Dunlevie is the founding partner of venture-capital firm Benchmark.
• Frances Frei, Harvard Business School professor and the only woman on the board joined in 2018. Previously SVP of leadership and strategy at Uber.
• Steven Langman is cofounder of private-equity firm Rhône Group.
• John Zhao is the chairman of Chinese private-equity firm Hony Capital.
• Mark Schwartz is the former head of Goldman Sachs Asia business and former SoftBank board member.

Neumann is now non-executive chairman and Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham are co-CEOs. The new co-CEOs will likely have a rocky ride trying to convince the world that Neumann isn’t still in charge, the visionary and all round face of the company. Uber has shown that this takes years to achieve and to some degree is unlikely to ever go away.

After pulling out a significant amount of shares, Neumann (and his wife, Rebekah Paltrow Neumann, who has also stepped down from duties) can choose to be a help or a hindrance to the We Company. The board should tread carefully and forge a new path if it is to convince detractors and the the wider world that they and WeWork is a company worth saving and worthy of its valuation, inflated or otherwise. A path that starts with deciding what went wrong with the board in order for things to get where they are wouldn’t be a bad start.

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The news, like the CEO, is out, WeWork wunderkinder slash all around interesting ‘character’, Adam Neumann is no longer the CEO of WeWork but this doesn’t mean WeWork’s problems will go away, possibly the opposite. WeWork isn’t about to start miraculously turning a profit and changing its ways until a certain board of directors takes a long hard look in the mirror.

Diversity and gender issues aside (although these say volumes), the board only took action when there was a significant public call for change happened. A good board doesn’t wait for this to happen. A good board makes changes and applies pressure to steer leaders, hold the accountable and make them better. Perhaps the move was a long time in the planning but this isn’t backed up by anything on record. The issue isn’t the length of time it took, it’s the motivation it too that speaks volumes about the future. The fact that this is the motivation the board required for change is unlikely to calm media, stakeholder and consumer fears that WeWork isn’t a great business or a force for good. The Board isn’t exactly overflowing but money and old money. Recent addition, Frei, was the first woman and is ex-Uber:

• Ronald Fisher is vice chairman at SoftBank Group Ronald Fisher is the former CEO of Phoenix Technologies.
• Lewis Frankfort is the chairman of fitness-studio chain Flywheel Sports Lewis and former CEO of Coach.
• Bruce Dunlevie is the founding partner of venture-capital firm Benchmark.
• Frances Frei, Harvard Business School professor and the only woman on the board joined in 2018. Previously SVP of leadership and strategy at Uber.
• Steven Langman is cofounder of private-equity firm Rhône Group.
• John Zhao is the chairman of Chinese private-equity firm Hony Capital.
• Mark Schwartz is the former head of Goldman Sachs Asia business and former SoftBank board member.

Neumann is now non-executive chairman and Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham are co-CEOs. The new co-CEOs will likely have a rocky ride trying to convince the world that Neumann isn’t still in charge, the visionary and all round face of the company. Uber has shown that this takes years to achieve and to some degree is unlikely to ever go away.

After pulling out a significant amount of shares, Neumann (and his wife, Rebekah Paltrow Neumann, who has also stepped down from duties) can choose to be a help or a hindrance to the We Company. The board should tread carefully and forge a new path if it is to convince detractors and the the wider world that they and WeWork is a company worth saving and worthy of its valuation, inflated or otherwise. A path that starts with deciding what went wrong with the board in order for things to get where they are wouldn’t be a bad start.