4 ms·

Considering he has the votes to fire the entire board, I'd be shocked if this happens. Softbank is completely fucked.

greenyoda 7y ago
If he fires the whole board, wouldn't that add further doubt about the company's governance and reduce the expected value of any future IPO even further? It doesn't seem like that would be in his best interest.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago
  > It doesn't seem like that would be in his best interest Rationally, he might be able to extract more cash out of the business running it into the ground than by having it saved by someone else. Delusionally, he might think he's the only one who can run WeWork.
- DebtDeflation 7y ago
  >If he fires the whole board It's game over at that point. Kiss the IPO goodbye, kiss the $6B in lines of credit goodbye, kiss any further investment from Softbank goodbye. With their burn rate, they then have MAYBE another 6 months before they become insolvent. That having been said, it would be quite the Pyrrhic Victory for Softbank, might even mean their demise as well.
rossdavidh 7y ago
It depends, I suppose, on how soon We needs more investor money. If he actually exercises his right to fire the entire board, it seems like it would be hard to get somebody else to chip in big money. On the other hand, it could be that Softbank knows it won't work, but feels they have to be seen attempting something.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  "We needs more investor money" I read this and heard Gollum saying "We wants it. We needs it."
bhouston 7y ago
I also feel that SoftBank has some turbulence in it's future, at least on the mega fund side of things.
gwern 7y ago
Adam has the votes, but not the cash. Softbank has the cash, but not the votes. Arrangements can be made. Ironically, that's a problem for Adam precisely because We is not Theranos. Holmes had the votes and the cash, which hadn't been spent yet since Theranos wasn't a real business, and she could (and did) just coast for years on what was already in the bank without any need to go to any investors or banks or third parties (who would of course have demanded her ouster as step 1). But since We is a real business with real users and a successful one, We can't just coast on its cash (even if it stopped expansion).
- krisoft 7y ago
  > But since We is a real business with real users and a successful one, We can't just coast on its cash. We have a very different definition of what does it mean to be a successful business.
  - gbear605 7y ago
    It's successful in the sense that it could raise prices to make a profit and there's a possibility that it would still have enough customers left. Unlikely the oft-discussed "selling dollars bills for 90 cents" companies, WeWork is creating real value that its customers will pay for. The question is still open whether that value is more than the operating costs, but it's at least possible. I'd bet against it though.
    - rightbyte 7y ago
      Uber is also creating real value for its customers.
      - bsder 7y ago
        And Uber could be profitable and create real value for investors. The problem is that, in that case, Uber isn't a unicorn and isn't worth the billions already thrown into it.
Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 7y ago
Financial Times is just reporting that _Softbank_ is the one asking him to step down, so that clearly complicates things: https://www.ft.com/content/ee652036-dd64-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc https://www.ft.com/content/ee652036-dd64-11e9-9743-db5a37048...

If he fires the whole board, wouldn't that add further doubt about the company's governance and reduce the expected value of any future IPO even further? It doesn't seem like that would be in his best interest.

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> It doesn't seem like that would be in his best interest Rationally, he might be able to extract more cash out of the business running it into the ground than by having it saved by someone else. Delusionally, he might think he's the only one who can run WeWork.
DebtDeflation 7y ago
>If he fires the whole board It's game over at that point. Kiss the IPO goodbye, kiss the $6B in lines of credit goodbye, kiss any further investment from Softbank goodbye. With their burn rate, they then have MAYBE another 6 months before they become insolvent. That having been said, it would be quite the Pyrrhic Victory for Softbank, might even mean their demise as well.

rossdavidh 7y ago

It depends, I suppose, on how soon We needs more investor money. If he actually exercises his right to fire the entire board, it seems like it would be hard to get somebody else to chip in big money. On the other hand, it could be that Softbank knows it won't work, but feels they have to be seen attempting something.

perl4ever 7y ago
"We needs more investor money" I read this and heard Gollum saying "We wants it. We needs it."

bhouston 7y ago

I also feel that SoftBank has some turbulence in it's future, at least on the mega fund side of things.

gwern 7y ago

Adam has the votes, but not the cash. Softbank has the cash, but not the votes. Arrangements can be made. Ironically, that's a problem for Adam precisely because We is not Theranos. Holmes had the votes and the cash, which hadn't been spent yet since Theranos wasn't a real business, and she could (and did) just coast for years on what was already in the bank without any need to go to any investors or banks or third parties (who would of course have demanded her ouster as step 1). But since We is a real business with real users and a successful one, We can't just coast on its cash (even if it stopped expansion).

krisoft 7y ago
> But since We is a real business with real users and a successful one, We can't just coast on its cash. We have a very different definition of what does it mean to be a successful business.
- gbear605 7y ago
  It's successful in the sense that it could raise prices to make a profit and there's a possibility that it would still have enough customers left. Unlikely the oft-discussed "selling dollars bills for 90 cents" companies, WeWork is creating real value that its customers will pay for. The question is still open whether that value is more than the operating costs, but it's at least possible. I'd bet against it though.
  - rightbyte 7y ago
    Uber is also creating real value for its customers.
    - bsder 7y ago
      And Uber could be profitable and create real value for investors. The problem is that, in that case, Uber isn't a unicorn and isn't worth the billions already thrown into it.

Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 7y ago

Financial Times is just reporting that _Softbank_ is the one asking him to step down, so that clearly complicates things: https://www.ft.com/content/ee652036-dd64-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc https://www.ft.com/content/ee652036-dd64-11e9-9743-db5a37048...