REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Adam Neumann, CEO of WeWork, one of the big, private companies held by mutual funds at different valuations.
- WeWork is considering making major changes to its governance to boost its appeal to investors ahead of its planned initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.
- The company has already made a few changes such as adding a woman to the board. It's unclear what else the company might change, according to Bloomberg.
- WeWork's has seen its projected valuation cut from $47 billion to less than $20 billion due to a lack of interest from investors.
- Softbank, WeWork's largest outside shareholder, asked the company to delay its IPO process and could face a multi-billion-dollar write-down if the company debuts with a valuation between $15 and $20 billion as reported.
- Read all of Business Insider's WeWork coverage here.
WeWork is weighing major changes to its governance to boost its appeal to investors ahead of its planned initial public offering, according to a Bloomberg report.
At this point, exactly what the company is looking to change or address in its governance is unclear, the report found.
So far, WeWork has added a woman to its board and CEO Adam Neumann has returned $5.9 million he was granted for use of the word "we." But concerns still linger. The WeWork prospectus showed the company paid Neumann rent and lent him money, and that he has voting control over major decisions.
The lead financial advisers on the IPO are JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs. Both have raised concerns about going forward with the IPO after the company lowered its valuation and could list as low as $15 billion.
There's also the matter of WeWork's massive operating losses. The company has $3 billion in losses over the last three years. In the first half of this year, it lost $690 million.
The stakes are high for WeWork and its backers, including SoftBank, the company's largest investor, which added to its stake in the company in January valuing the company at $47 billion. Just this week SoftBank asked the company to delay its IPO process.
WeWork is counting on at least $3 billion from the IPO to take advantage of an additional $6 billion credit line, Bloomberg reported. To access the line, it must IPO by December 31, according to Bloomberg.
Read more: Mutual funds like Fidelity's famed Contrafund have slashed valuations on their WeWork stakes