WeWork—WeWork withdrew IPO after S-1 filing exposed severe corporate governance failures
WeWork formally withdrew its S-1 filing and postponed its IPO on September 17, 2019, after investors raised serious concerns about corporate governance. The filing revealed founder Adam Neumann held super-voting shares (20:1 ratio), lacked meaningful board oversight, had installed his wife as chief brand officer with power to fire employees, and had structured succession planning around the Neumann family. The company's valuation collapsed from $47 billion to approximately $10 billion. Neumann was forced to step down as CEO on September 24, 2019.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
NPR reported WeWork CEO stepped down as IPO stalled over governance concerns
NPR reported on September 24, 2019 that WeWork CEO Adam Neumann stepped down amid mounting investor concerns over corporate governance failures revealed in the company's S-1 filing, including excessive voting control and lack of board oversight.