WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO

Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by danesparza on Monday September 30, 2019 @02:29PM (#21118274)

I think the OP's question really involves the CFO or any accountants involved in this case. I would expect the CEO to be driven more by vision than by cold, hard facts.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by asveikau on Monday September 30, 2019 @03:16PM (#21118719)

> I would expect the CEO to be driven more by vision than by cold, hard facts.

If the facts don't align with your vision, figure out a different vision.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by adharmad on Monday September 30, 2019 @03:42PM (#21118987)

If one is cushioned by unlimited amount of VC money, then it can take a while to realize that the vision was untenable.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by wpietri on Monday September 30, 2019 @08:49PM (#21121014)

I don't know the story with WeWork's CFO. But the book "Super Pumped" documents how Kalanick used his dominance to keep from having a CFO at all for long periods.

A good CEO who is very strong on vision will build a team that keeps him in check by having balancing strengths. But narcissists don't like balance. So they build teams that let them do what they want. And when they hire somebody who isn't an enabler, that person soon ends up gone one way or another. And it's not just CEOs. You can find a good example of this in recent US politics.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by rland on Monday September 30, 2019 @04:15PM (#21119275)

I'm guessing that the issues have something to do with the management structure.

If your CEO is delusional, it's usually possible to reign him or her in... From what I understand, Neumann had some special votes that basically allowed him to fire the board at any point.

I imagine that anyone with a pragmatic mindset willing to ask "wait, but the numbers are..." was pushed out of the picture either explicitly or implicitly by the power imbalance.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by danesparza on Monday September 30, 2019 @04:46PM (#21119517)

Holy crap: You're right.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/9/24/20882133/wework-adam-ne...

Thanks for the tip! I didn't realize that.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by jacquesm on Monday September 30, 2019 @03:06PM (#21118629)

> I would expect the CEO to be driven more by vision than by cold, hard facts.

Vision is fine but cold, hard facts are essential too. If you let your vision get the better of you and you ignore the facts then you're on the path to self destruction.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by paulddraper on Monday September 30, 2019 @02:32PM (#21118313)

I'm guessing there's a mix of "it's hard to tell bad news" and "it's hard to hear bad news".

If those two factors are strong (say, cultural reasons), a lot of red flags can fall by the wayside.

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Re:WeWork says will file to withdraw IPO by Benjammer on Monday September 30, 2019 @02:34PM (#21118328)

You mean the CFO who took over the helm of the company?

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