Inside WeWork's all-hands meeting, where the new chairman from SoftBank addressed employee concerns about worthless stock options and Kanye West's 'Flashing Lights' played
- WeWork held an all-staff meeting on Wednesday to address SoftBank's takeover and the embattled office company's future.
- Incoming WeWork chairman Marcelo Claure told staff about new initiatives like performance dashboards and addressed employees' options, as well as cofounder Adam Neumann's future at the company.
- The SoftBank chief operating officer said he has no specific numbers on jobs but is committed to "fast" and "transparent" cuts.
- For more news about WeWork, click here.
WeWork is no longer a one-man show. The embattled coworking company is moving past cofounder Adam Neumann's leadership towards more transparency, a soon-to-be leaner staff, and better accountability, WeWork's new chairman Marcelo Claure told employees on Wednesday at an all-staff meeting.
"We want this to be a growth story. We want this to be an amazing comeback story," Claure said, according to a transcript provided by an employee. "The money worries should be gone by now, right? We have everything that we need financially to go fund this."
Claure, who wore a black blazer and a black shirt with the We circle logo according to pictures reviewed by Business Insider, spoke broadly about how WeWork would move forward by focusing on its core businesses. Co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham have already moved to cut some of WeWork's acquisitions and wind down other arms like elementary school WeGrow.
"My goal is to deliver to you guys in the next two to three weeks a very clear and concise plan that everybody knows where the company is heading," Claure said. "We're going to eliminate a lot of distraction... We're going to put dashboards together so we can all see how we're performing in a daily, weekly, monthly basis and we're going to share that we're going to have a culture of total transparency."
Claure also addressed a question about cofounder Adam Neumann's payout. Nine current and former employees told Business Insider on Tuesday that the package outraged them, particularly as they waited for news about layoffs. Claure highlighted that Neumann relinquished his voting rights to the board, making him an observer with no voting rights.
"That's going to be a great investment to basically put the company back into our hands for us to be able to run it without having somebody with a gun," he said, metaphorically speaking about Neumann's previous 10-to-1 voting power.
But he also underlined Neumann's leadership and the company's "braveness" in being one of the fastest-expanding companies globally.
"I'd be foolish if I wouldn't consult with Adam, there's a lot of learning in some nine years," Claure said. "I do plan to use some of his knowledge ... I would do it all over again because this gives us the right to run the company without any intervention and I think it was the right decision to do."
No longer a one man show
He did subtly address Neumann's leadership, saying that leadership would "switch from a one man show to a model where leaders are empowered and held accountable to deliver the results they're assigned."
Some employees had told Business Insider they were worried about the value of their options in SoftBank's tender offer, which Claure addressed, saying he would work with human resources on a plan.
It's "too early to tell but what I can commit is that I'm going to look at what is going to be the financial burden of basically readjusting the price of the equity or the option...give me a couple of weeks," he said. "Nobody should have a worthless option."
Claure answered a question about layoffs from the audience, confirming that there will be cuts but he had no specific numbers yet. He talked about treating employees well and helping them leave with dignity.
"We need to right size the company," he said. "We are going to do it fast and be transparent."
"Humble beginnings"
Claure contrasted WeWork's ethos with corporate America's "miserable" cubicle-filled buildings where "people hate coming to work you."
Here, "this energy is just mind-blowing ... I want to focus on what made this company successful at the beginning."
Claure said most companies lose their path, but a good exercise is going back to "the humble beginnings" as well as look forward.
"Companies that don't innovate, you know, they will die. But in this case, we got to get back to the basics and providing an amazing experience to our members."
Read more: How WeWork spiraled from a $47 billion valuation to talk of bankruptcy in just 6 weeks
He highlighted some of his long-term metrics for success: every large company that's expanding will consider using a WeWork facility, while every developer and current landlord will think of WeWork as the easiest way to fill their buildings. Claure also said he wants to make WeWork one of the best companies in the world for employees.
Claure also addressed a question about gender and diversity, talking about it as a long-term priority. Now that the company's finances are more stable, management can look at that issue, he said.
He also spoke on WeWork's headline-grabbing autumn.
"The best way we are going to keep the media away is by showing results."
The meeting wrapped up around 11:45 a.m. EST with a song: Kanye West's Flashing Lights.
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