WeWork co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann is in advanced talks to resolve a legal dispute with SoftBank Group Corp., accepting a nearly $ 500 million reduction in his payment from the new owner of WeWork. the company’s common office space, a move that would help clear the way for WeWork’s second attempt to make a list public.
According to the terms discussed, SoftBank would spend about $ 1.5 billion to buy shares of early WeWork investors and employees, including nearly $ 500 million to buy shares from Mr. Neumann – in both cases, about half of what he initially agreed, according to people familiar with the talks.
SoftBank took a majority stake in WeWork after its initial public offering attempt collapsed in 2019, when public investors opposed the purchase of the company’s losing money shares and conflicts of interest and Mr Neumann’s irregular behavior. Neumann stepped down as CEO following the IPO disaster.
Negotiations have sometimes been rocky and there is no guarantee that they will produce an agreement, but if there is, it could be finalized in the coming days, people said.
If there was a solution, it could be followed by another deal, as WeWork is also in talks to combine with a special-purpose procurement company, a move that would eventually turn it into a a public company.