![]() ![]() The result was “amazing,” just watch, he told the group.īut as they watched the video together with Neumann in JPMorgan’s office, Neumann’s words rang hollow. He insisted everyone watch the video he had filmed through the marathon session the day before. Neumann wanted to highlight some progress. (Subsequently, multiple others present at the filming backed up Neumann’s version: they didn’t think he smoked marijuana that night.) “I swear on my life and my children I would never do that,” Neumann told him. Neumann looked at Wintroub directly and told him he had not smoked pot while he was filming. Wintroub asked the same question inside the conference room. Were you smoking pot while you were filming the video? he asked. Minson quickly took Neumann aside to question him about the previous night. When he arrived, Neumann was already furious-upset they were meeting without him. He should come to the bank, Berrent told him. Berrent and Minson decided to call Neumann. They all agreed that Neumann needed to be persuaded to call off the IPO. Minson and Berrent were exasperated but not surprised. Taken with the Journal’s marijuana anecdote, it could even invite legal questions for the bank and its ability to take WeWork public. A junior banker from Goldman Sachs who was present the prior evening at the road show taping told the IPO team that Neumann had smoked pot during the taping-a wildly irresponsible move on the cusp of an IPO, if true. In Erdoes’ conference room atop the office tower, they outlined their discomfort with Neumann’s recent erratic behavior and their fears about the IPO.īefore they got far, though, Erdoes and Wintroub offered a new wrinkle. The two zipped up the JPMorgan elevator to meet with Erdoes and Wintroub. It wasn’t their decision to make, but they needed to tell others. WeWork wasn’t going to be able to pull off its IPO. It was time to pull the plug before they reached the point of no return, the two concluded. Neumann’s inability to stay on message when talking with investors presented a huge legal liability they could be sued if it happened during the road show, she feared.Ī glitzy video wasn’t going to save this. That could be a hugely damaging event, preventing the company from ever coming back to try again, Minson worried. WeWork might have to pull out of its IPO plans at the last minute. If WeWork went ahead with its road show and then the Journal’s article on Neumann came out, it could be a disaster. Adding to the pressure was the forthcoming Wall Street Journal story that looked as though it would highlight Neumann’s erratic leadership. The corporate governance problems, the investor meetings where Neumann’s pitches fell flat, Neumann’s inability to stay on script-it was all too much. Both longtime Neumann defenders had lost faith in him. ![]() Their ship was taking on water faster than they could bail it out, the two agreed. Soon after they began talking, they both realized it was time to acknowledge reality. Berrent, normally unflappable, felt a constant cloud of anxiety as things began to look increasingly bleak for the IPO. ![]() It had been a rough couple of weeks for the two senior WeWork executives. They sank into chairs in the black-and-white-tiled lobby of the octagonal building-one built for Bear Stearns before its rapid collapse-which was adorned with screens flashing JPMorgan marketing materials. The two longtime Neumann deputies were due to meet with Mary Callahan Erdoes and Noah Wintroub soon, but they needed to get on the same page. On Monday, September 16, Jen Berrent and Artie Minson met in the lobby of JPMorgan’s headquarters at 383 Madison. ![]()
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