WeWork Co-founder Neumann Considered Bidding On Bankrupt Barneys

Former WeWork CEO and Co-founder Adam Neumann’s family office was in talks to buy Barneys New York when the embattled retailer was going through bankruptcy proceedings, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Neumann’s family office was created to oversee his wealth, and was part of the proposed deal as a consortium headed by Sam Ben-Avraham.

Ben-Avraham’s offer was eventually rejected in favor of a bid by Authentic Brands Group; the deal was approved earlier in November.

Neumann’s family office is named after an apartment he shared with his wife. The former WeWork founder has properties in the Hamptons, Westchester and Manhattan. He has invested in U.K. energy company Faraday Grid and an anti-aging company called Life Biosciences, among others.

Neumann stepped down after a failed IPO and a bailout from SoftBank Group. He got a $185 million consulting fee and a $500 million loan, and can sell up to $970 million in stock.

WeWork recently revealed a 90-day plan to turn itself around. The changes are outlined in a 50-page presentation that was written in October but revealed on Nov. 8.

WeWork is going to divest several ventures, including The Wing, Managed by Q, Meetup, Space IQ, Teem, Wave Garden and Conductor.

The company said job cuts will come throughout the company, but that the community teams who manage the company’s physical locations will not be affected.

WeWork will focus on its core business of co-working. It wants to “re-energize employees” and “realign performance incentives,” as well as focus on enterprise customers rather than smaller startups.

In an apparent reference to the company’s former CEO Neumann, WeWork said it would be helmed by “proven executives in membership-focused, subscription-based businesses” instead of being “founder-led.” Neumann was replaced by Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson.

The first half of the year’s occupancy rates were down, WeWork said. It stands at 81 percent versus 84 percent a year ago.