WeWork Gets Two New CEOs: “This Is Artie. He’s the Adult in the Room”

(Bloomberg) — Years before he stepped down as chief executive officer of WeWork amid the wreckage of an over-hyped public offering, Adam Neumann was hosting an industry executive for an early lunch at the company’s headquarters. It was the summer of 2017, and he brought the executive over to the office of one of his deputies, Artie Minson. “This is Artie,” Neumann said. “He’s the adult in the room.”

On Tuesday, Neumann resigned as CEO of We Co., WeWork’s parent company, and took the role of non-executive chairman, succumbing to mounting pressure from his board to relinquish power. The campaign to get Neumann to step aside came on the heels of reports of self-dealing and other governance issues that caused public investors to spurn the company, sending its expected valuation tumbling by billions of dollars.  

Neumann has been replaced by Minson and another WeWork executive, Sebastian Gunningham, who are now co-CEOs of the troubled co-working giant. The two men, both with years of public company experience in various roles—but scant background in real estate—will seek to bring order to the chaos that has surrounded WeWork’s botched IPO.

Insiders describe Minson, an accountant by training who is said to have a dry sense of humor, as the opposite of the extroverted Neumann, who is a natural showman with a propensity for lofty rhetoric. But Minson has a history with the company, having worked closely with Neumann for four years, most recently as the company’s chief financial officer. Gunningham, WeWork’s vice chairman, spent years at Amazon.com Inc. and Oracle Corp. before joining the startup.

Now, the pair will be tasked with rallying WeWork’s employees, all of whom are accustomed to stagecraft from a charismatic founder with a penchant for hiring famous musicians to perform at company functions. And they must also soothe anxious investors, leery of the company’s huge expenses, its history of unconventional governance structures and persistent inability to turn a profit.

“It is an incredible honor to lead WeWork during this important moment in the company’s history,” the two men said in a joint statement. “Our core business is strong, and we will be taking clear actions to balance WeWork’s high growth, profitability and unique member experience while also evaluating the optimal timing for an IPO.”

On that summer morning in 2017, after he introduced Minson as the resident adult, Neumann and the visiting executive went back to Neumann’s office, where the CEO went on to say he himself had matured as an executive, according to a person familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified discussing a private meeting. “You might have heard I like a shot of tequila in meetings,” Neumann said. “But I like to think I’ve grown up.”

Instead of tequila, Neumann produced two bottles of single-malt scotch whiskey and meted out small shots. It was before noon.

The Accountant

Artie Minson, according to a person familiar with the company, is a polished executive who represents a “sober choice” for WeWork. Minson studied accounting at Georgetown University and earned his master’s in business administration from Columbia Business School. As an accountant, he worked at Ernst & Young before starting work in the media industry.

Minson did a tour of New York media companies. That included work at Time Warner Inc. and at Rainbow Media Holdings Inc., where he was the senior vice president for finance. Later, as the CFO of AOL Inc., he oversaw that company’s successful spinoff from Time Warner in 2009, following their 2000 merger. His last job before WeWork was as CFO of Time Warner Cable, which he left shortly after Charter Communications Inc. agreed to buy the company for $56 billion under his watch.

Minson arrived at WeWork in 2015, starting out as the company’s president and chief operating officer, later becoming its CFO. He has acted as a close aide to Neumann, alongside Jen Berrent, WeWork’s chief operating officer.

Despite Minson’s numbers-heavy background, he still has “the salesman capability,” said one person who knows Minson but who asked not to be identified speaking about private interactions. Minson would often crack jokes when talking with the investors and analysts at Time Warner Cable, the person said, and was more personable than a typical CFO.