WeWork’s estranged founder Adam Neumann has walked away with a settlement package worth about $450mn including cash, stock and fees from Softbank, as reported by the FT. The details of the settlement were revealed in an exchange filing earlier this month. This marks an end to the saga that began with Softbank pulling out of a tender offer for WeWork shares that was part of Neumann’s origina; $1.6bn package, which led Neumann along with two independent directors to sue Softbank. The two parties settled the dispute in February this year but details of the settlement were not released. As part of the deal, Softbank and affiliates will make a cash payment of over $105mn, half of which is expected to cover Neumann’s legal fees as per the FT. Further, Neumann will also receive “profits interests” (similar to stock options) worth close to $250mn linked to BowX Acquisition, the SPAC that WeWork will be merging with as part of its effort to go public. FT added that Softbank slashed the strike price on its profits interests such that Neumann will gain if the listing is successful and BowX shares trade above $10. This comes just days after WeWork’s losses widened 4x to over $2bn for the first quarter.
WeWork’s 7.875% bonds due 2025 are currently trading at 101.375 yielding 7.46%.
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