WeWork co-founder sues SoftBank over failed deal

The co-founder of start-up WeWork, Adam Neumann, has accused one-time ally Softbank of abuse of power.

On Monday (May 4) he filed a lawsuit against the company and its Vision Fund for pulling a deal to buy $3 billion dollars of WeWork's shares from investors.

The offer was agreed to back in October-- part of a nearly $10 billion rescue package after WeWork's IPO failed last year.

Neuman would have reaped the biggest benefit from the deal and the offer would have given Softbank control of WeWork.

Since then, WeWork's occupancy rates have only plummeted - given stay-at-home orders around the globe.

An independent special committee has also filed a lawsuit, calling SoftBank's decision to terminate the offer wrongful.

SoftBank's lawyers had questioned the committee's right to represent minority shareholders, an assertion the committee rejected last month.

In April Softbank said it would not press ahead with the tender offer because several pre-conditions had not been met, frustrating WeWork's minority shareholders who had been expecting a payout.

The investors included Neumann.

Meanwhile, SoftBank's Chief Legal Officer called Neumann's claims quote "meritless."

Under the terms of the agreement, he said Softbank had quote "no obligation" to complete the tender offer in which Neumann himself wanted to sell nearly $1 billion in stock.