Adam Neumann is out as WeWork's CEO, but that's no 'silver bullet': VCs and protech experts think it will take cutting passion projects and cleaning house to right the ship
- Adam Neumann has stepped down as CEO of WeWork and his voting rights have been slashed. He will stay on as non-executive chairman.
- WeWork is naming two current execs, Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson, as co-chief executives. Gunningham came to the company from Amazon, while Minson came to WeWork from Time Warner Cable and was previously AOL's CEO.
- Business Insider spoke to VCs and experts in the proptech and flex-office space to see if they think this change will get WeWork back on track, and what else may be needed.
- Read more WeWork news here.
Adam Neumann has stepped down as CEO of WeWork on Tuesday and his voting power has now shrunk, though he will stay on as non-executive chairman. The question remains: will this stop the avalanche of bad news since the company unveiled its filing for an IPO last month, and set the company back on track?
While reports of Adam Neumann smuggling weed into Israel on a private jet and treating employees to a "Tricky" performance by a member of Run-DMC after announcing layoffs have grabbed the headlines, VC investors and prop-tech experts we talked to said there are still changes needed to WeWork's business to help it chart a clearer path to profitability.
WeWork had mulled a drastic valuation cut from the $47 billion in its last private round to win over potential investors, according to media reports.before postponing an IPO entirely.
The company will now be led by co-CEOs: WeWork exes Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson.
"Our core business is strong and we will be taking clear actions to balance WeWork's high growth, profitability and unique member experience while also evaluating the optimal timing for an IPO," the two said in a statement announcing the leadership change on Tuesday.
Business Insider spoke to VCs and experts in the proptech and flex-office space to see if they think the leadership change will be enough to get WeWork back on track.