WeWork founder will get nearly $1.7 billion to let SoftBank take overhis company

Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank is taking control of WeWork, and it’s giving WeWork founder Adam Neumann the equivalent of nearly $1.7 billion to sever most of his ties with the shared office space startup, according to The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. SoftBank will also spend up to $3 billion buying out shares owned by employees and early investors in the company, and it’s lining up some $5 billion in debt financing to help the startup move forward. This is all on top of the more than $10 billion SoftBank has already committed to WeWork as its largest investor.

Neumann will reportedly sell $1 billion worth of his WeWork stock to SoftBank as part of the takeover bid. SoftBank will also pay him a $185 million...

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