WeWork said President and Chief Operating Officer Anthony Yazbeck is leaving after more than two years on the job, just days after the financially struggling flexible workspace provider named former Blackstone Group executive David Tolley as its third permanent chief executive.
Yazbeck reached the agreement with the New York-based company on Oct. 13 and will leave his position effective Friday, WeWork said in a regulatory filing late Thursday. Yazbeck’s leaving isn’t a result of “any disagreement with respect to operations, strategy, or any accounting matters, financial statements, financial disclosures or related disclosure controls and procedures,” WeWork said.
A WeWork spokesperson declined to comment to CoStar News on a replacement. WeWork on Monday named Tolley permanent CEO as it seeks to renegotiate leases with landlords in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries to slow a cash flow drain.
Yazbeck, a WeWork veteran for nearly eight years who was appointed president and operating chief in July 2021, previously served as WeWork’s international president and operating chief. Before that, he was its operating chief of Europe, China and the Pacific for five years, where he played a key role in “scaling” WeWork’s European business and leading the transformation of the company’s operations in China, WeWork said on its website. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined WeWork in March 2016.
“Since joining WeWork, Anthony has played a critical role in our global expansion, further strengthening our team, and driving our commitment to deliver best-in-class office space and services for our members,” Tolley said in an emailed statement to CoStar News.
As part of the separation agreement, Yazbeck will receive payments equivalent to $1.06 million and $437,000, WeWork said in the regulatory filing.
Tolley had become interim chief executive after the company's former CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, left in May for private equity firm Sycamore Partners after three years on the job at WeWork.
Adam Neumann, who co-founded the company in 2010, was ousted in 2019 amid corporate governance concerns that led to a failed first attempt by the New York-based company to go public at the time.