Adam Neumann makes personal visit to Israel after WeWork ouster

Israel-born businessman, who was forced out of US company, won’t visit its local offices during his stay

By Marcy Oster 2 December 2019, 8:46 pm

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Adam Neumann, co-founder and chief executive officer of WeWork, speaks during a signing ceremony at WeWork Weihai Road flagship on April 12, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Jackal Pan/Visual China Group via Getty Images via JTA)

JTA — WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, who stepped down in September as CEO of the US shared office space company, is making a personal visit to his native Israel.

Neumann will not be visiting WeWork’s offices there, the Calcalist business website reported Sunday, citing an unnamed source “familiar with the matter.”

He grew up on a kibbutz. His mother, Avivit Neumann, an oncologist at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, told the Israeli radio channel 103FM in October that her son had become religious through the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Neumann, 40, was forced out as chief executive, but has remained chairman of the WeWork parent firm, We Co. Under the bailout, he remains an observer and holds a minority stake, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The deal gave SoftBank 80 percent ownership of the company, which at the beginning of the year was valued at $47 billion and heading for an initial public offering. The IPO has been delayed, however, as the company suffered a major devaluation amid investors’ fears over the charismatic but unpredictable Neumann’s control of the firm.