WeWork Cofounder Adam Neumann Is Reportedly Trying to Pull a Steve Jobs WeWork, once valued at $47 billion, filed for bankruptcy last November.
By Pete Syme
Key Takeaways
- Adam Neumann is exploring an offer to buy back the now-bankrupt WeWork, per the NYT.
- It could be a similar move to Steve Jobs' revival as the Apple CEO, 12 years after he resigned.
- Neumann has partnered with capital providers including Dan Loeb's Third Point.
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This story originally appeared on Business Insider.
WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann is exploring an offer to buy the now-bankrupt company, The New York Times' DealBook first reported.
DealBook published a letter sent to WeWork's lawyers by Alex Spiro, an attorney who has also represented Elon Musk.
The letter says Neumann's new real-estate company, Flow Global, is partnering with capital providers including Dan Loeb's Third Point.
Neumann has met with WeWork several times since December to discuss buying it or its assets or providing it with financing, per the letter.
The letter says that includes a formal proposal for a $200 million debtor-in-possession agreement.
It also accuses WeWork of failing to properly engage with Neumann's attempts to buy back the company by not providing requested information.
WeWork, once valued at $47 billion, filed for bankruptcy last November. Its downfall began when preparing for its initial public offering in 2019, and Neumann stepped down as CEO, with his eccentric management style having came under fire.
The possibility of him coming back on board bears similarity to Steve Jobs' revival at the helm of Apple.
Jobs resigned in 1985 to start another company, NeXT, which was in turn bought by Apple 11 years later for $429 million.
He then joined then-Apple CEO Gil Amelio on stage at January 1997's Macworld Expo as a keynote speaker. Jobs formally returned as CEO in September of that year after Amelio's ouster, leading the company through innovations like the creation of the iPhone, before stepping down in January 2011, 10 months before his death.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, a WeWork spokesperson said: "WeWork is an extraordinary company. As such, we receive expressions of interest from external parties on a regular basis. We and our advisors always review those approaches with a view to acting in the best interests of the company."
"We continue to believe that the work we are currently doing — addressing our unsustainable rent expenses and restructuring our business — will ensure WeWork is best positioned as an independent, valuable, financially strong and sustainable company long into the future," they added.
Representatives for Neumann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
