Barely a week ago, Adam Neumann was sitting atop the most valuable startup in the U.S. and getting ready for a blockbuster initial public offering.

Now he’s out of a job.

The charismatic, high-octane 40-year-old resigned under pressure as chief executive of WeWork’s parent Tuesday and will relinquish control of the shared-office company, a rapid fall from grace that is unusual in the startup world and bucks a trend of highflying founders with unchecked control.

Mr. Neumann and his advisers agreed following a tumultuous few weeks for the startup that the best path forward was for him to relinquish the CEO role, people familiar with the matter said. “Too much focus has been placed on me,” Mr. Neumann said in a staff email following the announcement Tuesday.

Mr. Neumann will remain nonexecutive chairman and be succeeded by two of his deputies, who as co-CEOs are expected to cut staff and try to stem the company’s substantial losses.

Artie Minson, finance chief of We Co., as the parent is known, will focus on finance, legal and human resources. Sebastian Gunningham, a veteran of Amazon.com Inc., will tend to marketing and technology.

Mr. Neumann will also cede majority control of the company, with his supervoting shares reduced to 3-to-1 from 10-to-1, the people said.