WeWork appoints Sandeep Mathrani as CEO

Yet another Indian assumes a senior position at a global company. WeWork, on Feb 1st, announced that Sandeep Mathrani will join the company as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective February 18, 2020.

Mathrani will report to Marcelo Claure, who will remain Executive Chairman. Mathrani brings to WeWork extensive leadership experience in real estate, with a proven track record of transforming companies and driving meaningful growth to create value for stakeholders. Mathrani’s deep real estate experience and skills are highly complementary with those of Claure.

Mathrani succeeds co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham, both of whom helped stabilize WeWork over the past several months. Minson and Gunningham will remain with the Company through a transition period to ensure a smooth onboarding process.

Claure said, “Over the past 100 days since I joined WeWork, we have made tremendous progress strengthening the business. As an important first step, we have recapitalized the business and have a plan that will provide us access to in excess of $2.5 billion in liquidity to execute our growth plans. With a strong liquidity position in place, we have also established a five-year, growth-led transformation plan that we believe will position WeWork to achieve profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis by 2021 and positive free cash flow in 2022. We continue to make important changes to implement a strong management team that better enables the Company to execute.”

Over the last 100 days, WeWork has:

• Outlined a clear five-year strategic plan, built around six pillars, that guides a growth-led transformation plan.
• Implemented a five-year financial plan that positions WeWork to achieve profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis by 2021 and positive free cash flow in 2022.
• Established a strong liquidity position that allows the Company to execute its strategic and financial plans on a fully-funded basis with access to additional liquidity of approximately $2.5 billion, after executing its plan and becoming cash flow positive, for future growth.
• Made important changes to its operating model and organization structure with a clear governance structure to enable the proper execution of our plan with proper accountability throughout the organization.

Claure continued, “During this time, we have led an exhaustive search to identify a collaborative partner who is dedicated to the future success of WeWork. Sandeep is that person. He is the partner of choice with the right skills and experience as we work to execute WeWork’s transformation. He is a proven leader with turnaround expertise in the real estate industry, and we are thrilled to welcome him to WeWork. On behalf of the entire Board, I’d like to thank Artie and Sebastian for their leadership and dedication as co-CEOs during a challenging few months. Artie and Sebastian have helped provide stability and valuable insights as we repositioned the Company for its next phase of growth.”

Mathrani said, “I am honored to be joining WeWork at this pivotal time in its history. The Company has redefined how people and companies approach work with an innovative platform, exceptionally talented team and significant potential if we stick to our shared values and maintain our members-first focus. I am grateful for the confidence Marcelo and the Board have placed in me and look forward to partnering with Marcelo and the very talented employees at WeWork.”

Mathrani most recently served as CEO of Brookfield Properties’ retail group. Prior to that, he served as CEO of GGP Inc. for eight years, during which the company was recapitalized in November 2010, experienced eight years of growth, and in August 2018 was sold to Brookfield Property Partners. Prior to joining GGP in 2010, Mathrani was President of Retail for Vornado Realty Trust, where he oversaw the firm’s U.S. retail real estate division and operations in India comprised principally of office properties. During his tenure, he was responsible for stabilizing and growing the portfolio. Before that, he spent nearly a decade as Executive Vice President at Forest City Ratner, where he was tasked with starting and growing a new platform of retail properties across the five boroughs of New York City.

Mathrani serves on the executive board and the board of trustees for the International Council of Shopping Centers, the executive board and 2019 chair of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, as well as the board of directors for Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

Mathrani holds a Master of Engineering, Master of Management Science and Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.