Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, who serves as chief culture officer, cofounded co-working space operator WeWork in 2010. Together, they scaled the company to more than 100 cities around the world and raised billions of dollars from investors on the broad, vague selling point of"community."
But Neumann's role at the company has been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent weeks. When The We Company filed its IPO paperwork in August, it set off a wave of criticism centered on everything from the company's staggering losses and the lack of a woman on its board to the unchecked power of Neumann and his numerous potential conflicts of interest.
In a statement, Neumann said that"while our business has never been stronger, in recent weeks, the scrutiny directed toward me has become a significant distraction, and I have decided that it is in the best interest of the company to step down as chief executive."Neumann will stay on as non-executive chairman but he will no longer have majority voting control, a source familiar said.
In revised paperwork earlier this month, the company had made a number of changes to the oversight of its business in a bid to appease investors. Those included decreasing the super voting shares of its founders and early investors from 20 votes per share down to 10 votes per share, as well as empowering the board with the ability to remove the chief executive officer.
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