WeWorks’ new co-CEOs will get $8.3million EACH if they are fired or quit and chief legal officer will get more than $1million despite the embattled company’s cash crunch
- Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham will both get $8.3m if they leave
- The co-CEOs were brought in in October after Adam Neumann’s departure
- They were given salaries of $1.5million – considerably less than their exit pay-offs
- Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Berrent earns $600,000 but will get $1.3million if she leaves or is fired
- She is instrumental in handling the company’s looming IPO and is speaking to federal investigators
- Neumann initially got $1.6billion in his exit deal but it is being revised so that receives hundreds of millions at most, sources say
- WeWork planned to go public last year with an exorbitant valuing of $47billion
- When details emerged of Neumann’s fast spending and erratic behavior, that number dropped to around $8billion
- Softbank, the Japanese group
WeWork’s new co-CEOs will get $8.3million each if they are fired or quit and the chief legal officer will walk away with more than $1million, despite the embattled company’s current cash crunch.
When Japanese investment group Softbank bailed out the company in October amid a flurry of criticism and shareholder concern over its CEO and founder Adam Neumann, it brought in co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham to replace him.
They were given salaries of $1.5million but new records obtained by The Financial Times reveal they were also given a golden parachute exit deal.
The same can be said for Jennifer Berrent, chief legal officer. Her salary is $600,000 but she gets $1.3million if she leaves the company. She also does not have to repay $12million of retention bonuses if she departs which was part of her old deal.
The proposed exit deals are a far cry from the $$1.6billion Neumann received when he left the company, despite the fact that thousands of employees had to be laid off as part of the reshuffle.
Artie Minson (left) and Sebastian Gunningham (right) will both walk away with $8.3million if they leave or are fired by WeWork, despite the company’s desperate cash crunch and brutal laying-off of thousands of staff
The deals have all been revised as part of the Softbank’s take over.
Details of them were sent to shareholders this week, according to the Times, which also reports that the board is already considering replacing all three people.
Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Berrent will get $1.3million if she leaves or is fired
Neumann’s enormous severance package is also being revised, but he could still walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars, it is claimed.
Minson worked as CFO before Neumann’s departure and his promotion.
In that role, he was paid a salary of $51,000 but received $625,000 in loan forgiveness.
It is unclear what Gunningham was earning; he worked for Amazon.
Berent’s new salary of $600,000 is a step down from the $871,154 she received last year.
She is instrumental in piecing together the company’s IPO documents.
WeWork was on track for legendary success.
The fast-growth company was at one stage valued at $47billion – a staggering figure which made the prospect of an IPO irresistible.
Neumann’s wife Rebekah sprang into action to produce an S-1 form that insiders said she treated like the ‘September issue of Vogue’. It featured glossy portraits of celebrities and wistful copy about the company’s ethos but failed to put forth a strong financial landscape.
As the company veered closer to going public, details of Neumann’s reckless spending and erratic behavior spooked the industry.
Adam Neumann and his wife Rebekah Paltrow Neumann are pictured last April. He walked away with a $1.6billion payout which is also being revised
The S-1 cast Neumann’s astronomic spending in new light.
In recent years, the young former CEO has amassed an $80million property portfolio. He also bought a Gulfstream jet and personalized it to the tune of $65million.
Before he was ousted, the company announced plans to sell it.
Neumann ignored advice from other executives who told him not to try to take the company public in just three months, according to insiders.
He was determined to make it succeed, despite the company’s losses. Some inside the company said Neumann had a ‘Jesus’ complex and is a ‘phony’.
‘He clearly is very smart and ambitious.
The valuation dropped dramatically to around $8billion. The company asked Softbank for a bail-out, which it provided, but under harsh terms.
Some 4,000 staff were let go as part of the restructuring.
WeWork’s restructure has cost around 4,000 jobs. The company plans to go public next year