在WeWork內(nèi)部，一對(duì)夫婦掌握著控制權(quán)

在WeWork內(nèi)部，一對(duì)夫婦掌握著控制權(quán)

In the early days of WeWork, the two people most associated with the company were cofounders Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. As they grew the brand, the pair was interviewed and photographed, together and separately, by numerous publications.

在WeWork的早期，與該公司關(guān)系最密切的兩個(gè)人是聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人亞當(dāng)•諾伊曼和米格爾•麥凱維。隨著品牌的發(fā)展，這對(duì)搭檔合體且分別接受了眾多出版物的采訪和拍照。

But when WeWork's parent company filed paperwork on Wednesday to go public, the nine-year old startup appeared to be primarily a Neumann production.

但當(dāng)WeWork的母公司周三提交文件準(zhǔn)備上市時(shí)，這家成立9年的初創(chuàng)公司似乎主要是諾伊曼的成績。

McKelvey, the company's chief culture officer, was mentioned only six times in the IPO prospectus. Neumann, the CEO, was mentioned well over 100 times. Neumann's wife, Rebekah, was mentioned 20 times.

該公司首席文化官麥凱維在IPO招股說明書中只被提及了六次。首席執(zhí)行官諾伊曼被提及超過100次。諾伊曼的妻子麗貝卡被提到了20次。

In addition to being a cash-burning enterprise facing a host of question marks around its business, The We Company is uniquely set up to be controlled by the Neumanns — a move that's raising some eyebrows among governance experts.

作為一家燒錢的企業(yè)，WeWork公司除了在業(yè)務(wù)上面臨一系列問號(hào)外，還被諾伊曼控制，這一獨(dú)特的操作讓一些管理專家感到驚訝。

In addition to her role as chief brand and impact officer, Rebekah Neumann is credited as a cofounder in the IPO prospectus. (She was previously called a founding partner.) The filing notes that she has been "a strategic thought partner to Adam since our founding."

除了擔(dān)任首席品牌和影響力官外，瑞貝卡•諾伊曼還在IPO招股說明書中被列為聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人。(她之前被稱為創(chuàng)始合伙人。)文件指出，她“自我們成立以來一直是亞當(dāng)?shù)膽?zhàn)略思想伙伴”。

Together, the Neumann's wield considerable control over WeWork, a structure that will continue after the company goes public.

合在一起，諾依曼對(duì)WeWork擁有相當(dāng)大的控制權(quán)，這種結(jié)構(gòu)將在公司上市后繼續(xù)存在。

For example, The We Company has chosen to create multiple classes of stock, giving Adam Neumann voting control over the company's decisions. But in the event that Adam Neumann is "permanently disabled or deceased" in the 10 years following the IPO, Rebekah will form a committee with one or two board members to select a new person for the role. (The board consists of Neumann and six other non-employee directors who are all men.) If Rebekah is unable to serve in this capacity, the trustee acting on behalf the Neumann's estate will serve in her capacity.

例如，WeWork公司選擇創(chuàng)建多個(gè)股票類別，讓亞當(dāng)•諾伊曼對(duì)公司的決策擁有投票權(quán)。但如果亞當(dāng)•諾伊曼在IPO后的10年內(nèi)“永久殘疾或去世”，麗貝卡將成立一個(gè)由一到兩名董事會(huì)成員組成的委員會(huì)，挑選一位新董事。(董事會(huì)由諾伊曼和其他六名男性非雇員董事組成。)如果麗貝卡不能以這種身份任職，代表諾伊曼遺產(chǎn)的受托人將以她的身份任職。

But giving succession plans to a spouse who has no role on the board, albeit with one or two board members, is unusual.

但將接班計(jì)劃交給一位在董事會(huì)中沒有任何職位的配偶，盡管只有一到兩名董事會(huì)成員，這是不尋常的。

Traditional governance practices are designed to protect investors. "You don't want personal relationships to interfere with professional relationships," he said. "It's always considered a bad idea."

傳統(tǒng)的治理實(shí)踐旨在保護(hù)投資者。他說:“你不想讓私人關(guān)系干擾到職業(yè)關(guān)系。”“這一直被認(rèn)為是一個(gè)壞主意。”

The amount of control the Neumanns have over their soon-to-be public company is rare, although they're not the first couple in tech who've done business together. Julia and Kevin Hartz cofounded ticketing platform Eventbrite, which went public in 2018; Flickr, the photo-sharing platform that sold to Yahoo, was started by then-couple Stewart Butterfield, who went on to found Slack, and Caterina Fake; and Medallia, a customer feedback company that went public in July, was started by married couple Borge Hald and Amy Pressman.

諾伊曼夫婦對(duì)即將上市的公司擁有的控制權(quán)是罕見的，盡管他們并不是科技行業(yè)第一對(duì)合作過的夫婦。朱莉婭和凱文·哈茨共同創(chuàng)辦了票務(wù)平臺(tái)Eventbrite，于2018年上市;賣給雅虎的照片共享平臺(tái)Flickr是由當(dāng)時(shí)的斯圖爾特•巴特菲爾德和卡特琳娜•費(fèi)克夫婦創(chuàng)辦的。Medallia是一家客戶反饋公司，于今年7月上市，由已婚夫婦博爾格•哈爾德和艾米•普雷斯曼創(chuàng)辦。