WeWork CEO Adam Neumann is stepping down

After a disastrous attempt at going public, the chief executive of WeWork’s parent company, Adam Neumann, is stepping down, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, who serves as chief culture officer, cofounded co-working space operator WeWork in 2010. Together, they scaled the company to more than 100 cities around the world and raised billions of dollars from investors on the broad, vague selling point of “community.”

Over the years, they expanded beyond co-working and into co-living, health and wellness, and education. In January, they rebranded to The We Company, an umbrella to the various businesses.

But Neumann’s role at the company has been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent weeks. When The We Company filed its IPO paperwork in August, it set off a wave of criticism centered on everything from the company’s staggering losses and the lack of a woman on its board to the unchecked power of Neumann and his numerous potential conflicts of interest.

Over the weekend, there were reports that some board members, including its largest investor SoftBank, wanted to oust Neumann as CEO, just days after the company announced that it would delay its Wall Street debut.

In a statement, Neumann said that “while our business has never been stronger, in recent weeks, the scrutiny directed toward me has become a significant distraction, and I have decided that it is in the best interest of the company to step down as chief executive.”

The Wall Street Journal and