WeWork Names Real-Estate Executive Sandeep Mathrani as New CEO

WeWork's parent company named seasoned real-estate executive, Sandeep Mathrani, as its new CEO.

Mathrani will be tasked with leading WeWork's parent, the We Company, as it attempts to rebuild its reputation after its planned IPO collapsed last year, and its co-founder and CEO, Adam Neumann was ousted in September by Softbank Group.

Mathrani was recruited by Marcelo Claure, who currently serves as executive chairman of We Co. He will remain in that role, and Mathrani will report to him. Claure, who is Softbank's COO, was appointed executive chairman by Softbank after it rescued the company with a $9.5 billion bailout package last October. The deal gave Softbank 80 percent of WeWork and valued the company at $8 billion, just a fraction of its peak valuation of $47 billion.

Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson, who have served as co-CEOs since Neumann departed in September, will stay on through a "transition period." Mathrani takes over as chief executive on Feb. 18.

Mathrani was most recently the CEO of Brookfield Properties’ retail group. Prior to joining Brookfield, he served for eight years as the CEO of mall operator General Growth Properties which was acquired by Brookfield for $9.25 billion in 2018.

Since the Softbank bailout, Claure has played a key role in getting WeWork back on track. As part of the efforts to control costs and manage growth, the company announced in November that it was laying off 2,400 employees, and its leasing activity dropped 93% in the fourth quarter.

The company has also outlined a five-year strategic plan that it expects will strengthen the business and get the company to profitability.

Updated February 2, 2020