WeWork—Ousted CEO Neumann received up to $1.7 billion exit package while employees lost stock value
In October 2019, despite presiding over a failed IPO that destroyed tens of billions in valuation and led to thousands of layoffs, former CEO Adam Neumann received close to $1.7 billion from SoftBank to resign from WeWork's board and sever ties with the company. The package included $970 million for his remaining shares, a $185 million consulting fee, and a $500 million credit to repay personal loans from JPMorgan Chase. This occurred while laid-off employees lost stock options that had become worthless, highlighting an extreme disparity in outcomes between executive leadership and rank-and-file workers.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.643 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Wall Street on Parade documented Neumann's $1.7 billion exit package amid company collapse
Wall Street on Parade reported that Adam Neumann received close to $1.7 billion from SoftBank to resign from WeWork's board, including $970 million for shares, $185 million consulting fee, and $500 million credit for loan repayment, while thousands of employees were laid off with worthless stock options.