WeWork co-founder and former Chief Executive Adam Neumann is nearing a settlement with SoftBank Group Corp that could include a nearly $500 million cut in his payout from the office space-sharing company’s new owner, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
SoftBank would spend about $1.5 billion to buy shares of early WeWork investors and employees, including $500 million to buy Neumann’s shares, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The high-profile settlement would put to rest a prolonged legal battle between Neumann and the tech company, which dates back to 2019 when WeWork’s IPO plans fell apart.
SoftBank, which poured more than $13.5 billion into WeWork, was pulled into a legal dispute with directors at WeWork after backing out of a $3 billion tender offer agreed when it bailed out the office-sharing firm following a flopped IPO attempt.
SoftBank declined to comment to a Reuters request. WeWork was not immediately available for a statement.
Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Reuters
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