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WeWork is restructuring its leadership into four separate divisions amid substantial IPO buzz.
Among its first major steps in the process, the co-working giant valued at roughly $17B is hiring James Woods, whose résumé include running Brooklyn Bowl and serving as an exec at Starwood Property, The Real Deal reports.
Woods will head up the company’s co-living operation, WeLive. Another Starwood alumnus, Richard Gomel, will lead WeWork’s co-working business. Both have been on board at WeWork since January. The company will now be split into co-working, co-living, services and “enterprise” divisions — the latter designed to meet the needs of major corporate clients.
Previously, the company was been divided more informally, along the lines of specific functions like leasing, tech, customer service and others, and its culture often included employees weighing in on matters outside their formal areas of expertise.
The new structure sets up hierarchies that correspond to specific business lines, and mirrors structures often seen in large public companies. As a possible step in preparing for such changes, former Time Warner chief financial officer Artie Minson came aboard as president about 18 months before the recent hires.
CEO Adam Neumann has said that an IPO is a possibility, but has not committed to a timeline. Chief culture officer Jennifer Berrent told TRD that the structural changes are not being made with an IPO in mind.
WeWork has been struggling to keep pace with the growth of its meteoric rise. It slashed profit expectations for last year by 78%, leaked documents showed, and a planned expansion of its co-living business has stalled.
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