T-Mobile’s Legere Isn’t Taking WeWork Job, Relieving Investors

(Bloomberg) -- T-Mobile US Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Legere isn’t taking a job running WeWork, contrary to speculation this week, a person familiar with the matter said.

Legere, 61, is sticking with T-Mobile for now, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. CNBC reported earlier that Legere wasn’t going to WeWork, sending the shares up as much as 3.5% on Friday.

Legere, a shaggy-haired, self-appointed industry rebel, has led a comeback at T-Mobile, culminating in a deal last year to merge with Sprint Corp. That transaction hasn’t yet cleared regulatory hurdles, and the idea of Legere jumping ship didn’t sit well with investors. They sent the shares down as much as 4.2% on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that WeWork was talking to Legere.

The relief rally on Friday was briefly the carrier’s biggest intraday increase in almost four months, though the stock later pared its gain. It closed up 1.6% in New York.

The CEO already has ties to WeWork majority shareholder SoftBank Group Corp., which took ownership of the company after WeWork’s initial public offering broke down. SoftBank also controls Sprint, and that carrier’s executive chairman, Marcelo Claure, was recently appointed to the same position at WeWork.

But people familiar with WeWork’s CEO search have stressed that it intends to consider many candidates.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, ;Rakshita Saluja at rsaluja4@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.