Power couples lose their charm

Business power couples have received a bad rap lately. WeWork CEO Adam Neumann and his wife, cofounder and “strategic thought partner” Rebekah, appeared to encourage each other’s eccentricities. Mrs Neumann reportedly demanded that employees with “bad energy” be sacked. Both are now stepping down from executive roles.

Investors want bosses to work together, not live together. Elizabeth O’Connell recently switched jobs at UKlisted litigation funder Burford after criticism from a US short-seller. Muddy Waters saw O’Connell’s combined role — finance director and wife to CEO Christopher Bogart — as a governance failing. Vernon Hill, cofounder of struggling Metro Bank, took flak for contracting wife Shirley’s business to design its wildly overspecified branches (lots of marble, free dog biscuits).

In theory, successful private relationships should translate to the workplace. Trust and familiarity should raise productivity. Coupled-up founders should share goals and eschew rivalry.

Kevin and Julia Hartz credit their partnership with helping them start Eventbrite in 2006. The married couple now occupy the chair and CEO roles in the $1.5bn company. That has not stopped shares shedding more than half since the 2018 initial public offering.

A study of Danish entrepreneurial couples in the decade to 2010 suggests fruitful partnerships are no rarity. Businesses started by couples achieved the same profits as those started by people not in a relationship, despite lower sales. The incomes of entrepreneurial couples rise faster than where only one person started the business.

Mr and Mrs Neumann no longer work together. He is switching to chair. She is reportedly leaving. They can still enjoy a relationship brimming with the positive energy both espouse. /London, September 30

© The Financial Times 2019