Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
WeWork tried breathing new life into its IPO this morning with a new filing disclosing significant changes to voting structure, lockups, profit-sharing, and succession-planning.
Why it matters: Almost all of this is about reducing the power of co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann, who remains more controversial among many investors than WeWork's business model.
As such, the company said it will:
- Cut the power of Neumann's super-voting stock from 20 votes per share to 10 votes per share, and convert it to one vote per share if Neumann were to die or become incapacitated.
- Give WeWork's board the ability to remove Neumann as CEO and choose a successor. It also plans to name an independent director by year-end.
- Neumann already pledged not to sell any stock in the first year post-IPO, and now will limit any sales in years two and three to no more than 10% of his holdings.
- Neumann also "will give to the company any profits he receives from the real estate transactions he has entered into with the company." Unclear if this also includes past profits.
- All of this follows Neumann's recent return to the company of a $5.9 million stock payment for the "We" family of trademarks.
The bottom line: Last month we wrote that WeWork had put its IPO at risk via a series of unforced errors, many of which could be corrected in amended filings. The company has now done just that. What we still don't know is if fund managers will be willing to forgive and invest, or if they just can't shake their first impression.
Go deeper: WeWork CEO returns $5.9 million "trademark payment" to the company