WeWork is reportedly courting T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere to become its new chief executive and turn around the embattled co-working startup.
SoftBank, which recently bailed out the firm and replaced its CEO and founder Adam Neumann with interim co-chiefs, is in talks with Legere, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
He is one of several candidates being considered to start as soon as January, according to CNBC.
As chief executive of T-Mobile, he worked to turn around the company that is now one of the largest wireless carriers in the United States.
Legere also has a link to SoftBank thanks to his work on Sprint’s $26 billion merger with T-Mobile. (SoftBank owns Sprint.) That merger is expected to be finalized sometime next year, with Legere stepping down at that time. It remains unclear if he would accept the position at WeWork, with the proposed takeover and payday not yet actualized.
It’s been a rough few weeks for the company.
Earlier this month, SoftBank Group wired over $1.5 billion in funding to keep the embattled co-working company afloat after its failed IPO in August. It’s all part of a bailout package that also includes $5 billion in new debt financing.
With this infusion, SoftBank now has a majority stake with 80 percent ownership of the company and is already making sweeping changes.
However, there are also reports of massive layoffs in store – with some outlets projecting as many as 4,000 jobs cuts.
WeWork has a large presence in the Triangle area and an operation in Charlotte, offering shared working spaces and related services.
https://wraltechwire.com/2019/10/29/antitrust-suit-pushes-close-of-t-mobile-merger-with-sprint-to-2020/
https://wraltechwire.com/2019/11/01/weworks-ex-ceo-other-execs-face-pregnancy-discrimination-complaint/
