NEW YORK — Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork, isn’t going down without a fight.
The ousted CEO sued SoftBank on Monday, accusing it of breaching a contract by withdrawing an offer to buy up to $3 billion in WeWork stock from Neumann and other shareholders, according to the New York Times.
The Japanese conglomerate included the stock offer in a bailout that saved WeWork from financial collapse last year. In April, it announced that it was ditching the plan because of “the existence of multiple, new, and significant pending criminal and civil investigations.”
Neumann’s lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, contends that SoftBank and one of its investment funds “reneged on their promise to pay for the benefits they had already received.”
It also asserts that SoftBank “was secretly taking actions to undermine” the deal.
Neumann stepped down as chief executive last year after WeWork’s failed initial public offering. Under the takeover agreement, Neumann stood to receive cash payments totaling $185 million and would have sold nearly $1 billion of his WeWork shares to SoftBank. SoftBank also gave him a $425 million loan to repay credit lines with banks that had been secured by WeWork stock.
Robert Townsend, SoftBank’s chief legal officer, was quoted as saying that the company “will vigorously defend itself against these meritless claims.”
