Rebekah Neumann demanded WeWork employees be fired over 'energy': WSJ

Rebekah Neumann, a WeWork executive and the wife of CEO Adam Neumann, demanded that employees be fired after meeting them for mere minutes because she disliked their “energy,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal also reported that Rebekah “pushes to infuse spiritualism in We,” according to former employees who worked with her.

Rebekah Neumann is a cofounder, as well as chief brand and impact officer, of WeWork, and the spouse of CEO Adam Neumann.

She is also the founder and CEO of WeGrow, the “conscious entrepreneurial school” for children ages 2 to 11 under parent The We Company's corporate umbrella.

The We Company originally involved Rebekah in the company's succession planning when it released its IPO filing in August; but, investor pushback led the company to remove Rebekah from succession planning and bar her from serving on the board.

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Rebekah Neumann, WeWork executive and the wife of cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann, demanded that employees be fired after meeting them for mere minutes because she disliked their “energy,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Journal's report didn't indicate if those employees were ultimately terminated. The We Company declined to comment on this report.

Rebekah Neumann is a cofounder, as well as chief brand and impact officer, of WeWork. She is also the founder and CEO of WeGrow, the “conscious entrepreneurial school” for children ages 2 to 11 under parent The We Company's corporate umbrella.

She also happens to be the first cousin of actress Gwyneth Paltrow, founder of the health and wellness empire Goop — which, like WeWork, has occasionally endured ridicule. Neumann's apparent focus on “energy” is another thing they might have in common: Goop article titles include “Clearing out old energy,” “Understanding how to move and manipulate energy,” and “Energetic Detox: How to get rid of bad energy.”

Neumann also “pushes to infuse spiritualism in We,” former employees who worked with her told The Journal.

The Journal further characterized the Neumanns as “impulsive at times,” reporting that Adam was “bemoaning the number of 'B' players hired amid rapid growth” and consequently ordered his staff to fire 20 percent of the company's workers annually.

Read more: WeWork CEO Adam Neumann reportedly smoked weed with friends on a private jet to Israel — and the flight crew later found a 'sizable chunk' in a cereal box and recalled the plane

The We Company included a plan for succession in its IPO filing in August involving Rebekah, described in the filing as Adam's “strategic thought partner.” The plan would put Rebekah at the helm of a committee with two board members charged with selecting a new CEO in the case Adam were permanently incapacitated within 10 years of the IPO.

Involving Rebekah in the succession plan yielded investor pushback. Consequently, The We Company changed course, removing her from the plan and barring her from serving the board.

Read more: WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has a $4.1 billion net worth — Here's how he spends his money

Kevin Webb contributed to this report.