WeWork时隔两年终上市，被罢免CEO竟成最大功臣
共享办公空间WeWork在纽约证券交易所（New York Stock Exchange）上市交易当天，WeWork联合创始人，也是曾遭罢免的首席执行官亚当·诺依曼穿着印有“终身学生”字样的T恤，在纽约设计酒店办了一场聚会。当天是他和联合创始人米格尔·麦克尔维为公司早期加入的员工举办庆祝活动。
诺依曼庆祝有充分的理由。据彭博社（Bloomberg）报道，他仍持有公司约11%的股份，价值约7.22亿美元，不过报道称未来九个月内他无法卖出这些股份。根据彭博亿万富翁指数（Bloomberg Billionaires Index），WeWork与SPAC公司BowX Acquisition Corp.合并后，现在诺依曼持股市值约为23亿美元。虽然现在与2019年估算净值（当时高达140亿美元）相差甚远，但比起去年曾降至10亿美元以下的情况好了太多。
即便公司经历2019年惨败后终于上市，如今的WeWork其实只是2019年1月价值470亿美元的初创公司的外壳。2017年以来，WeWork最大的投资方软银投入了170多亿美元，公司估值还是降至约90亿美元。为完全掌控WeWork，软银还向诺依曼支付了数亿美元的分手费。
两年前，投资者质疑WeWork公司治理，以及不惜一切代价实现增长的商业模式，首次公开募股失败后2000多名员工失业。当时公司披露的信息显示，诺依曼一直将自己拥有的公司租给WeWork。这位前首席执行官还从投行获得了5亿美元的信贷额度，以提升在公司的持股份额，此外，由于他早早行使了股票期权，还从WeWork获得了3.62亿美元贷款。
后来人们对WeWork股票的兴趣下降，诺依曼辞职，公司最终推迟上市，后来彻底取消。此后不久，软银出手拯救了WeWork。今年早些时候，软银与前创始人诺依曼达成和解。
现在有报道称，2020年亏损32亿美元的WeWork终于以股票代码“WE.”上市公开交易（10月14日下午该公司股价11.58美元，上涨11.8%，市值约90亿美元）。一定程度上是因为报道称，诺依曼协助了SPAC公司BowX Acquisition Corp.联合首席执行官维维克·拉纳戴夫（Vivek Ranadivé）销售。10月20日，BowX的股东批准了与WeWork的合并。该笔交易预计可为WeWork注入13亿美元。
诺依曼可能正在庆祝WeWork成功上市。但公司经历了过去两年过山车般的经历后，并不是所有人都能欢呼得出来。（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
共享办公空间WeWork在纽约证券交易所（New York Stock Exchange）上市交易当天，WeWork联合创始人，也是曾遭罢免的首席执行官亚当·诺依曼穿着印有“终身学生”字样的T恤，在纽约设计酒店办了一场聚会。当天是他和联合创始人米格尔·麦克尔维为公司早期加入的员工举办庆祝活动。
诺依曼庆祝有充分的理由。据彭博社（Bloomberg）报道，他仍持有公司约11%的股份，价值约7.22亿美元，不过报道称未来九个月内他无法卖出这些股份。根据彭博亿万富翁指数（Bloomberg Billionaires Index），WeWork与SPAC公司BowX Acquisition Corp.合并后，现在诺依曼持股市值约为23亿美元。虽然现在与2019年估算净值（当时高达140亿美元）相差甚远，但比起去年曾降至10亿美元以下的情况好了太多。
即便公司经历2019年惨败后终于上市，如今的WeWork其实只是2019年1月价值470亿美元的初创公司的外壳。2017年以来，WeWork最大的投资方软银投入了170多亿美元，公司估值还是降至约90亿美元。为完全掌控WeWork，软银还向诺依曼支付了数亿美元的分手费。
两年前，投资者质疑WeWork公司治理，以及不惜一切代价实现增长的商业模式，首次公开募股失败后2000多名员工失业。当时公司披露的信息显示，诺依曼一直将自己拥有的公司租给WeWork。这位前首席执行官还从投行获得了5亿美元的信贷额度，以提升在公司的持股份额，此外，由于他早早行使了股票期权，还从WeWork获得了3.62亿美元贷款。
后来人们对WeWork股票的兴趣下降，诺依曼辞职，公司最终推迟上市，后来彻底取消。此后不久，软银出手拯救了WeWork。今年早些时候，软银与前创始人诺依曼达成和解。
现在有报道称，2020年亏损32亿美元的WeWork终于以股票代码“WE.”上市公开交易（10月14日下午该公司股价11.58美元，上涨11.8%，市值约90亿美元）。一定程度上是因为报道称，诺依曼协助了SPAC公司BowX Acquisition Corp.联合首席执行官维维克·拉纳戴夫（Vivek Ranadivé）销售。10月20日，BowX的股东批准了与WeWork的合并。该笔交易预计可为WeWork注入13亿美元。
诺依曼可能正在庆祝WeWork成功上市。但公司经历了过去两年过山车般的经历后，并不是所有人都能欢呼得出来。（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
The day WeWork began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, WeWork cofounder and ousted CEO Adam Neumann was partying at The Standard hotel in New York City, wearing a T-shirt that read “student for life”—at the event he and his cofounder Miguel McKelvey were hosting for the coworking space startup’s earliest employees.
Neumann had good reason to celebrate: He still holds an approximate 11% stake in the company—worth about $722 million, per Bloomberg—though he reportedly won’t be able to sell his shares for another nine months. Following WeWork’s merger with BowX Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, Neumann is now worth around $2.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. While that’s still a far cry from his estimated net worth in 2019 (a whopping $14 billion), Neumann’s net worth had fallen below the $1 billion mark last year.
But even as the company finally goes public after its debauched efforts in 2019, WeWork is a mere shell of the $47 billion–valued startup it was in January of that year. WeWork’s largest investor, SoftBank, had put more than $17 billion into the firm since 2017, only to see WeWork’s valuation dwindle down to around $9 billion. SoftBank and WeWork have paid hundreds of millions to formally sever its ties with Neumann.
More than 2,000 employees lost their jobs when WeWork’s IPO fell apart two years ago after investors called into question its governance policies as well as growth-at-all-costs business model that was reeling in steep losses. The company’s disclosures at the time revealed that Neumann had been leasing companies he owned back to the company. The ex-CEO had also taken a $500 million line of credit from investment banks to boost his own stake in the company, plus a $362 million loan from WeWork itself owing to his early exercise of a stock option.
Interest in WeWork’s shares dwindled, Neumann resigned, and the company ultimately delayed its offering, then withdrew it altogether. SoftBank ended up bailing out WeWork shortly after. SoftBank settled with the former founder earlier this year.
Now, with reported losses of $3.2 billion in 2020, WeWork is finally trading publicly, under the ticker “WE.” (Its stock was trading at $11.58, up 11.8% midafternoon Thursday, with a market cap of about $9 billion.) That’s, in part, because Neumann reportedly helped sell Vivek Ranadivé, co-CEO of the SPAC, BowX Acquisition Corp., on the deal. BowX’s stockholders approved the merger with WeWork on Oct. 20. The deal is expected to funnel $1.3 billion into WeWork.
Neumann may be celebrating as WeWork begins its trading debut. But after the roller-coaster ride the company has faced in the past two years, not everyone has as much of a reason to cheer.
