WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey has announced that he will step away from the coworking startup at the end of this month. McKelvey, who served as the company's chief culture officer, publicly announced his departure on social media, calling it "one of the most difficult decisions of my life."
"While it’s hard to leave, and I know there is a lot more work to be done, I could only make this decision knowing the company and our people are in good hands," McKelvey said in his Instagram post, also expressing his support for "victims of murder, marginalization, and repression, and those who are standing up in protest."
View this post on InstagramAfter 10 years, I’ve made one of the most difficult decisions of my life – one that I’m not even sure has sunk in just yet. But at the end of this month, I’ll be leaving WeWork. While it’s hard to leave, and I know there is a lot more work to be done, I could only make this decision knowing the company and our people are in good hands. Before I say anything else, I have to acknowledge the victims of murder, marginalization, and repression, and those who are standing up in protest. The time is now to commit to changing ourselves, our systems, and our institutions. I also want to acknowledge our members of We of Color, and other team members who have been working for years to bring evolution and growth to WeWork, our communities, and the members that we serve. They were here before the events of the past few weeks, advocating for change – and we must look to them to lead us through these times and into the future. To the WeWork Members, Employees and the communities they serve, during this crazy and complex time, more than ever, I know you can and will continue to show up. You know the value and power of community, and you are at the core of the positive impact we can make. You will all continue to lead us forward with your energy, your expertise, your creativity, your compassion, your authenticity, your empathy, and your idealism. To every single person who was a part of this journey over the past 10 years: Thank you for letting me turn my day dream into my day job. But more importantly, thank you for helping thousands of other people do the same. I’ll carry with me the past decade of meaningful memories and powerful experiences for the rest of my life. Be good to one another. With love, Miguel
McKelvey also addressed WeWork's remaining members and employees in a LinkedIn post. "I know you can and will continue to show up," he wrote in the post. "You know the value and power of community, and you are at the core of the positive impact we can make. You will all continue to lead us forward with your energy, your expertise, your creativity, your compassion, your authenticity, your empathy, and your idealism."
McKelvey co-founded WeWork with Adam and Rebekah Neumann in 2010, using his architectural training to help develop the company's design vision. According to The Real Deal, McKelvey was one of the few WeWork executives to remain with the company after its highly publicized and unsuccessful attempt to go public last fall; chief legal officer Jen Berrent will be the only original executive left at the company.
Once valued as high as $47 billion, the We Company now has an estimated valuation of less than $3 billion, according to its controlling shareholder, SoftBank, as reported by Business Insider. WeWork co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann was ousted last September, shortly after the company's failed IPO attempt. Rebekah Neumann, Adam's wife, also stepped down as chief brand officer at that time.
ARCHITECT interviewed McKelvey in 2016 when WeWork was branching out into residential living with WeLive.
