Granit Gjonbalaj (Credit: LinkedIn) Today’s roster of WeWork departures includes Granit Gjonbalaj, the company’s head of real estate development. Gjonbalaj, who oversaw real estate operations including design, construction, project management and development, signalled his intent to resign earlier this week, people familiar with the matter told The Real Deal. He is currently negotiating his exit package. Gjonbalaj said in a statement that he was proud and honored to have worked at WeWork and was confident the firm would do well going forward. “When I joined the company, it had approximately 2 million square feet of space, a number that is now at over 50 million square feet in almost every corner of the world,” he said. WeWork declined to comment. His departure follows that of vice chairman Michael Gross, VP of operations and special projects Zvika Shachar, and director of development Roni Bahar, which TRD reported Thursday. Reports Thursday stated that 20 people aligned with former CEO Adam Neumann would be leaving the company. However, two people disputed that Gjonbalaj was among those seen to be associated with Neumann, and he was leaving the company on his own terms. “Granit was never seen as one of Adam’s yes men,” one WeWork source said. Gjonbalaj joined the company in 2015, after leaving his family’s construction firm, UA Builders, which was a longtime vendor of WeWork’s. This story will be updated.
Granit Gjonbalaj , head of real estate at UA Builders , is leaving the company. Adam Neumann reportedly signalled his decision to resign in the week of 23 September and began negotiations for his exit package. His departure follows reports that two of former CEO Granit Gjonbalaj ’s close supporters would leave the company. However, 20 people familiar with the matter said Gjonbalaj is leaving on his own terms.