Pressure mounts on WeWork CEO Adam Neumann as board weighs coup

The knives are out for WeWork CEO Adam Neumann.

With the drama of a palace coup, some directors are considering a plan to encourage the brash co-founder of the once high-flying real estate startup to step down as chief executive, according to people familiar with the situation. Among them: Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank Group Corp., WeWork’s biggest investor, a person familiar said.

The board plans to meet on Monday, people familiar said, in what would be a remarkable showdown between the 40-year-old Neumann and his billionaire backer. The directors are said to be considering asking him to become non-executive chairman.