Former Knotel CEO Criticizes New Owner

Amol Sarva, former CEO and cofounder of Knotel, has reportedly criticized the company’s new owner, Newmark, which recently purchased the company who had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“Over the last few months, Newmark was a stalking horse on a process that used bankruptcy to take control of Knotel with around $100mm of new capital,” Sarva reportedly said in an email. “This process undermined lots of important relationships and hurt lots of customers and partners.”

Sarva added that he sees an issue with Newmark hiring “a group of Adam Neuman[n]-era WeWork bros” to take over the flexible office firm, which has been facing numerous lawsuits from landlords who claim Knotel had missed rent payments over the past year.

Michael Gross, who was the former Vice Chairman of WeWork, was revealed to take over Sarva’s position of CEO.

At the time of Knotel’s sale, Sarva’s official statement was much more optimistic, stating that he felt that Newmark could offer his company a clear path forward.