WeWork board members are talking about ousting CEO Adam Neumann amid IPO turmoil

• Some board members at coworking startup WeWork aim to push out CEO Adam Neumann, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
• The board could meet this week and might discuss Neumann becoming WeWork's nonexecutive chairman, the Journal reported.
• According to the report, it was unclear how all of the company's seven directors - a list that includes Adam Neumann himself - have sided.
• Among the individuals who want Neumann out are officials linked to large WeWork backer SoftBank, the Journal reported. SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son is in favor of ousting Neumann as CEO, CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
• The New York Times also reported on Sunday that some board members and large investors are discussing potentially replacing Neumann, based on feedback from some major money managers. However, the Times reported that those conversations are so far informal.
• This comes after controversy about how the company is run led it to shelve its IPO until later this year, an extremely unusual move.
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WeWork's charismatic and controversial CEO Adam Neumann is reportedly in the hotseat after the company shelved its IPO until later this year.

A group of WeWork directors aim to oust Neumann from the role, although it's currently unclear how the 7-member WeWork board has sided, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The board could meet this week and discuss Neumann becoming WeWork's nonexecutive chairman, according to the Journal. Those who want Neumann out at CEO includes officials linked to WeWork's biggest backer, SoftBank.

SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son is in favor of ousting Neumann as CEO, CNBC reported on Sunday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

As co-founder of WeWork, Neumann built the company to a coworking giant valued in the private markets at $47 billion. But the charismatic leader has also faced intense criticism about how he runs the company and his own dealings with it, including conflicts of interest, and a lack of investor interest led the company to postpone its IPO plans until later this year.

Read: WeWork just shelved its IPO. Here's why the spectacular fiasco was fated from the start.

Neumann retains a strong hold over the company he helped start, and the Journal report notes that attempting to oust the billionaire businessman is a gamble, since he retains allies and has the power to fire the entire board.

A report from the New York Times on Sunday, meanwhile, said that some board members and large investors are speaking in private about potentially replacing Neumann, in light of feedback from some major money managers. However, the Times reported that those talks are currently informal.

• Read more:
• The life and career rise of Adam Neumann, the billionaire WeWork founder and CEO taking his company publicink
• WeWork is undergoing an exodus of top staffers. Here's everyone who's left the company this summer.
• WeWork's valuation is under fire. Here's everything we know about its IPO plans, finances, and concerns around CEO Adam Neumann.
• A former WeWork executive who made $300,000 and is now suing describes strange cultlike culture, including endless flows of alcohol at mandatory sleepover camp for employees and the CEO's children on his lap during an all-hands meeting