WeWork is halting all new lease agreements with property owners as the company - which is bleeding money - tries to rapidly rein in its costs, according to people briefed on the matter.

The move will rattle commercial property owners across the globe who rented to WeWork, and landlords have been bracing for the possibility that WeWork - which has become the biggest tenant in New York and one of the largest in London - could suspend its expansion.

The decision to stop all new leases comes as WeWork’s parent group - the We Company - is planning to lay off thousands of its 12,000-plus employees in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, the company also planned to cut the jobs of roughly 20 employees with close ties to co-founder – and former chief executive - Adam Neumann, including some of its top managers, those who had been briefed said.

Among the senior figures under pressure are vice-chairman Michael Gross and Chris Hill, a brother-in-law of Neumann’s wife, Rebekah. Gross was among the most senior executives and accompanied Artie Minson -who was elevated to co-chief executive of WeWork this week, alongside Sebastian Gunningham - on investor roadshows last year.

Others, in what one insider described as “Adam’s posse,” caught up in the cuts include a company driver for Neumann’s Maybach. The new co-CEOs have also put up for sale a Gulfstream G-650 jet which WeWork bought new for more than $60 million last year.

Hill rose quickly through the company ranks, holding titles including “chief We officer” of its Japanese operations, and was most recently chief product officer of the whole group.

Jennifer Berrent - the chief legal officer who was seen as having been sidelined by the promotion of Minson and Gunningham to co-CEOs - was expected to remain at the company, some of the people added. Berrent was co-president alongside Minson before he stepped up this week.

Former staff said the cost cuts indicated that Minson and Gunningham were sending a signal to Wall Street that they were serious about changing a culture known for its excesses. The looming departures of the employees with close ties to Neumann was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The co-CEOs have made the decision to sell three of the acquisitions made under Neumann — Conductor, Managed by Q and Meetup — for which they have already received tentative expressions of interest in recent days, two people briefed on the matter said.

However, the company is expected to retain Flatiron School, a coding education business it purchased two years ago.

WeWork’s Chelsea headquarters has been in crisis since Neumann was pushed out as chief executive on Tuesday in the wake of the dramatic collapse of its initial public offering, which had been expected to be a highlight in a banner year for IPOs. Instead, the company is now trying to secure a new financing lifeline.