This article is from WeChat public account:Siamese Racing (ID:sv_race), author: Juni, title figure from the visual China
Dangdang founders Yu Yu and Li Guoqing, the couple tore off the last oneBlock fig leaf, expose the dirty and rotten stinking brain to the Internet, and provide talks to the people who eat melon.
This kind of ending can’t be embarrassing. Once the model husband and the admired entrepreneur, the face behind the fig leaf was shocked by everyone.
How does the money benefit erodes them quietly?
There is no coincidence. With the news that Softbank is about to pay the founder Adam Neumann’s $1.7 billion break-up fee, WeWork has been pushed to the forefront, this time people are turning their eyes to the former leader – Adam Novo Iman and his wife Rebecca Neumann, Forbes estimates that the couple have at least $4.1 billion in net worth.
The irony is that, according to Softbank’s latest investment valuation, WeWork is currently worth only $8 billion, so that the couple can catch up with half of WeWork’s value.
You may be curious, is WeWork originally a husband and wife shop?
Yes, the media has always focused on Adam Neumann, ignoring the same influence on WeWork, Adam Neumann’s wife Rebecca Neumann.
Let’s take a look at this time, how the Neumann couples created WeWork and pushed it to the brink.
Rebecca Neumann’s people
To understand the cultural values of WeWork, we must first meet Rebecca Neumann.
She is the co-founder of WeWork; one of the potential heirs of WeWork, one of the three successors appointed by Neumann after his accident; the former chief brand and influence officer of WeWork; the education sector of We Brand Former CEO of WeGrow.
The so-called “chief brand and influence officer”, that is, the representative of the company culture, she is responsible for the constructionAll information, brand mission, brand values and the continuation of the creation of the WeWork brand of DNA.
In other words, her philosophy is about equal to WeWork’s philosophy.
Before she established WeWork with her husband, she was an actor and filmmaker in Hollywood.
It’s her grand cousin who took her to the Hollywood gate, Oscar-winning Gwyneth Paltrow (Gwyneth Paltrow).
Winnes Paltrow has appeared in many films such as The Avengers, Iron Man, and The Lost Lovers. The year after Winnies got the Oscar-winning film was 1999, when Rebecca was 19 years old. There is such a big cousin in the process of growing up, it is difficult to be unaffected.
Therefore, after witnessing the cousin’s creation of the e-commerce company Goop, in 2010, Rebecca also established WeWork with her husband Adam and started her entrepreneurial career with the pace of the big cousin.
Speaking of movies, maybe Rebecca’s regret in this life – she couldn’t reach the achievements of the big cousin in the movie anyway. However, perhaps because of this regret, in the life outside the movie, Rebecca has intensively magnified his life, and through the experience of WeWork, he has become a complete “shadow”.
The life behind the film is what every girl dreams of:
Beginners, hobbiesPan, talking and laughing have Hongru, there is no white Ding.
Not only must there be a face that can enter the lens, but also a heart that can be strategized. The highest realm is to live as a “perfect wife” – a modern woman who balances work and life in an orderly manner.
Image Source: coveteur.com
The life behind the film has always been perfect until:
On September 25th, Neumann resigned as CEO of WeWork, retaining only the chairmanship of the board of directors. On the same day, Rebecca was also “captured power.” On October 22nd, Adam Neumann’s last power was taken away by the board of directors, and the Neumanns formally left the management of the company they founded.
The same “status is not guaranteed” are the executives who have close ties with the Neumanns, and nearly 20 relatives and friends of Neumann and his wife Rebecca.
Neumann has almost established a “one-word hall” at WeWork
At this point, all the influences left by the Neumanns to WeWork will be swept away without mercy.
It used to be a “soul character”
You don’t need to be too sad about their departure. In fact, WeWork’s management style has long been affected.To question. Rebecca used to be the CEO of WeGrow, an educational institution owned by WeWork, and was once one of the successors appointed by WeWork. The story of “One person gets the best, the dog is ascended to heaven” is not only happening in China, but Adam’s immediate family is also in WeWork. Serving as the head of various services.
This traditional “male and wife shop” model is not a good refusal to question not only the internal employees but also the shareholders of the board.
Therefore, the prospectus handed over to the SEC in mid-September showed that if there was any accident at Adam Neumann, the company prohibited her and Neumann’s family from becoming board members.
But now it’s all too much to prove, because the Neumanns have officially left WeWork’s management.
So, who should be responsible for the management style of WeWork? In addition to Adam, the former policy implementer, the former chief brand and influence officer Rebecca is also difficult to get rid of responsibility.
Before meeting Adam, Rebecca was a trader at Solomon Smith Barney. His interest in Buddhism not only allowed her to earn a degree in Buddhist studies, but also allowed her to attend the birthday party of Gaochun.
I tried to get Adam to quit my obsession with money. She asked Adam to talk less about money and pay more attention to health, happiness and contentment. It’s good if wealth comes along; but it doesn’t matter if you don’t make money, because they will be happy and contented.
This was once the beginning of their creation of WeWork.
But running a company doesn’t depend on “positive energy.” Explaining management decisions through metaphysics is not conducive to others. Rebecca was once told by her company colleagues that she “puts too much spiritualism into WeWork”. As the CEO of an upcoming company, Adam’s public image is not so glamorous. According to the Wall Street Journal, he used to take drugs on his leased private jets and flew to the Nine.
Core Advisor: Say good happiness?
Rebecca’s former role can be understood as Adam’s “core adviser”.
She “actively reshapes the mission and strategy of WeWork and its global image, and as a leader of WeWork’s brand spokesperson and brand concept.” Although these titles did not give her any paychecks, Because of her special identity, her influence on the WeWork brand is extraordinary.
As a representative of the company culture, she needs “all the information, brand mission, brand values and the continuation of the DNA of the WeWork brand”.
Obviously, she is an important player, but her specific responsibility is a fog for WeWork employees, including some executives.
Adam did not shy away from admitting that many decisions made by the company were his joint decision with Rebecca.
But we found that the company policy she executed seemed to run counter to her responsibilities.
The company organizes a party full of spirits for its employees – say good health?
A company with 20% of B-level performance employees each year – say good content?
If these behaviors can be understood with the California values of “work hard, play harder” and the social Darwinism of the “survival of the fittest”, it is even more puzzling that Rebecca had seen some employees for the first time. They were fired within minutes, because she felt that they were not in harmony with the gas field – saying good happiness?
A woman sings with her, and Adam does not give up.
He banned the addition of meat to employee meals, although he was not a vegetarian himself; after dismissing nearly 7% of his employees, he immediately ate the tequila and invited Darryl McDaniels, a member of the hip-hop group Run-DMC. A flash concert, leaving a group of “stunned and confused” employees stunned at it all;
In addition, they have repeatedly asked the company’s IT and maintenance workers to go to their homes to repair things, and let the company employees become his home repair workers.
If all of the above practices only chill the employees, then at the beginning of this year, he changed the company name from WeWork to The We Company, and since the “We” trademark was privately owned by him, he charged the company. The practice of $5.9 million in licensing fees has left shareholders unable to calm their anger.
Fortunately, in the revised prospectus, Neumann returned the money.
The contradiction is not only reflected in the company’s policies, but also in the three views of the two founders.
If the above example can only mean that WeWork’s leadership may not be a traditional leadership, then some of Rebecca’s actions, which are almost the company’s image spokesperson, can’t help but doubt the company that WeWork advocates. “Values”.
In a learning camp at WeWork in 2018, she said in front of 8,000 people that “a large part of a job as a woman is to help a man (such as Adam) to meet the needs of life.”
In today’s increasingly prosperous movement, there are actually company leaders who advocate such “retro” values, making people speechless. Not only that, but former WeWork director Ruby Anaya (Ruby Anaya) claimed that her colleagues had implemented her in the company’s group building activities. Sexual abuse. This top-down “Brotherhood Boys” culture reveals that it is unfriendly to women all the time.
This kind of “chaos” is closer to the style of the Hollywood film circle, rather than the state that a startup should have.
We don’t have them
With the resignation of WeWork’s founders, WeWork’s IPO road will be more rugged.
“If Adam Neumann does not continue to serve as our CEO, it may have a significant negative impact on our business,” the IPO has left behind. But now, this platform, which was closely involved in the creation and development of their couples, has driven them out and “retired” from the actual operators.
The ratio of the voting rights of Class B and Class C stocks held by Neumann to the voting rights of Class A stocks held by ordinary shareholders was 20:1. After being criticized by the outside world, WeWork revised the prospectus and will The ratio of Neumann’s super-voting shares to the voting rights of ordinary shares is limited to 10:1.
With Neumann being dismissed from the position of CEO, the voting rights of shares held by Neumann will also be reduced to 3:1, losing majority voting rights.
On October 22nd, Neumann’s shares were completely bought out – of course, after taking a $1.7 billion “consultation fee” – he also officially established the company with the company. The cut is completed.
From left: Marcelo Claure WeWork new chairman; Neumann; Sun Justice
As the founder of the company, Adam and Rebecca once held the best cards.
They have excellent educational and career careers, celebrity effects with Hollywood star cousins, couples are important roles for the company, etc. These are the chips they can bargain with shareholders.
However, what did they do wrong and was sent off the table? Are they confusing the boundaries between work and family and bringing personal beliefs into the workplace? Are they not doing their jobs, proposing and advocating a good corporate culture? Is it the ambition to take the company’s money as an “family business”? Is Rebecca not doing a “good help” and “core counselor”, when Adam lost it?
We can’t blame anyone on the couple, but when an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent.
This kind of “mother and wife shop” where the fertilizer is not flowing out of the field is not uncommon in technology companies.
Ma Yun and Zhang Wei from Alibaba, Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin from SOHO China, Li Yanhong and Ma Dongmin from Baidu, Liu Qiangdong and Gong Xiaojing from Jingdong, Li Guoqing and Yu Yu from Dangdang, Tang Yan and Zhang Sichuan from Momo… /p>
Although this “husband and wife” posture looks very romantic, but on the road to entrepreneurship, it is not possible to go hand in hand, because the disparity of the interests of the couple is not without.
Not everyone can jump between the role of the pillow and the work partner, and it is difficult to tell a right or wrong between public and private matters. Among the couples who are separated from Laoyan, we see that the husband and wife team unanimously united in the early stage of the venture, and also saw the curtain of the issue of interest distribution after the building was established.
After all, marriage is not about business and cannot be measured with quantitative KPIs.
The Neumanns have no gaps and are unanimous, but they forget that WeWork is not a family business, but a “burning machine” that takes money from investment banks. When the revolution was not completed, they began to pay attention to merits and deeds, not only to make employees unconvinced, but also difficult for shareholders to pay.
Although belonging to the NeumannsThe lights have been extinguished and the stage has been put on the curtain, but if there are extra feelings, please don’t feel sorry for the Neumanns. When Adam Neumann left the board, he took away the “consultant fee” of $1.7 billion. Coupled with more than $700 million in cash at the beginning of this year, the Neumanns’ family is still very thick.
In stark contrast to this, WeWork plans to vacate 2,000 employees, but because the severance payment has not yet been put in place, it will not be implemented.
From the IPO valuation of $47 billion, the altar fell to a market value of about $8 billion. The CEO who made the wrong decision legally and legally took the money, while the diligent staff needed to act as the CEO. Pay the bill. It’s really “the thief’s shackles, the thief’s thief”, the so-called ridiculous, this is no more.
WeWork’s employees finally understood that We originally represented shareholders, they were Only.
Reference article:
WEWORK’S ADAM NEUMANN FIRED STAFF TO CUT COSTS, IMMEDIATELY THREW A RUN-DMC CONCERT-BESS LEVIN
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/adam-neumann-run-dmc
WeWork’s Adam Neumann just stepped down as CEO. Here’s everything we know about the drama that’s been unfolding at the co-wOrking giant.-Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6?utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=hearst&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=allverticals
WeWork cofounder Rebekah Neumann, cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow, reportedly demanded employees be fired within minutes of meeting them because she disliked their ‘energy’-Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-rebekah-neumann-adam-gwyneth-paltrow-energy-goop-2019-9
This article is from WeChat public account: racing with silicon (ID: sv_race) , author: Juni