Adam Neumann has agreed to a 50% reduction on the payout he will receive from SoftBank, ending a legal battle and paving the way for WeWork to go public, according to the Financial Times.
Terms: SoftBank will spend $1.5 billion to purchase shares from Neumann, WeWork employees, and venture investors. Neumann plans to sell up to $480 million in shares in the deal. SoftBank is also giving him a five-year extension on a $430 million loan he owes the Japanese conglomerate.
Backdrop: Settling the dispute with Neumann was critical for allowing WeWork to potentially go public by merging with a blank check company. SoftBank is currently in talks with BowX Acquisition, a SPAC that raised $420 million about a merger that could value WeWork between $8 billion to $10 billion. [FT+Bloomberg]