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==Biography==
==Biography==
Adam Neumann was born in Israel. He suffers from [[dyslexia]] and could not read or write until he was in third grade.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2017/10/02/the-way-we-work/|title=WeWork's $20 Billion Office Party: The Crazy Bet That Could Change How The World Does Business|last=Bertoni|first=Steven|work=Forbes|access-date=2019-06-27}}</ref> As a child, he lived in a [[kibbutz]]. He is a former officer in the [[Israeli Navy]].<ref name="Nicolaou"/> He later attended the [[Zicklin School of Business]] at [[Baruch College]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="techcrunch1">{{cite news |last1=Loizos |first1=Connie |title=WeWork's Adam Neumann is graduating from college today — 15 years after he enrolled |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/05/weworks-adam-neumann-is-graduating-from-college-today-15-years-after-he-started/ |access-date=9 January 2019 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>
Adam Neumann was born in Israel. He suffers from [[dyslexia]] and could not read or write until he was in third grade.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2017/10/02/the-way-we-work/|title=WeWork's $20 Billion Office Party: The Crazy Bet That Could Change How The World Does Business|last=Bertoni|first=Steven|work=Forbes|access-date=2019-06-27}}</ref> As a child, he lived in a [[kibbutz]]. He is a former officer in the [[Israeli Navy]].<ref name="Nicolaou"/> He later attended the [[Zicklin School of Business]] at [[Baruch College]] in [[New York City]].<ref name="techcrunch1">{{cite news |last1=Loizos |first1=Connie |title=WeWork's Adam Neumann is graduating from college today — 15 years after he enrolled |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/05/weworks-adam-neumann-is-graduating-from-college-today-15-years-after-he-started/ |access-date=9 January 2019 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>


Neumann lives in the [[Greenwich Village]] neighborhood of [[New York City]] with his wife, [[Rebekah Neumann]], and their six children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MACKELDEN |first=AMY |date=2022-03-18 |title=What Happened to WeWork's Adam and Rebekah Neumann? |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a39427495/where-are-adam-and-rebekah-neumann-now-wework-wecrashed/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Harpers Bazaar}}</ref> Neumann's sister, Adi Neumann, is a model and former Miss Teen Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/wework-adam-neumann.html|title=How Did WeWork's Adam Neumann Build a $47 Billion Company?|last=Wiedeman|first=Reeves|date=2019-06-10|website=Intelligencer|language=en|access-date=2019-06-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/MAGAZINE-by-harnessing-israeliness-wework-joins-the-ranks-of-uber-airbnb-1.5435939|title=By Harnessing Israeliness, WeWork Joins the Ranks of Uber, Airbnb|first=Inbal|last=Orpaz|date=31 July 2017|publisher=|access-date=6 January 2019|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>
Neumann lives in the [[Greenwich Village]] neighborhood of [[New York City]] with his wife, [[Rebekah Neumann]], and their six children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MACKELDEN |first=AMY |date=2022-03-18 |title=What Happened to WeWork's Adam and Rebekah Neumann? |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a39427495/where-are-adam-and-rebekah-neumann-now-wework-wecrashed/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=Harpers Bazaar}}</ref> Neumann's sister, Adi Neumann, is a model and former Miss Teen Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/wework-adam-neumann.html|title=How Did WeWork's Adam Neumann Build a $47 Billion Company?|last=Wiedeman|first=Reeves|date=2019-06-10|website=Intelligencer|language=en|access-date=2019-06-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/MAGAZINE-by-harnessing-israeliness-wework-joins-the-ranks-of-uber-airbnb-1.5435939|title=By Harnessing Israeliness, WeWork Joins the Ranks of Uber, Airbnb|first=Inbal|last=Orpaz|date=31 July 2017|publisher=|access-date=6 January 2019|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>

Revision as of 07:37, 24 August 2022

Not to be confused with Adam Newman.
Adam Neumann
Adam Neumann in 2015
Born (1979-04-25) April 25, 1979 (age 45)
Tel Aviv, Israel
CitizenshipIsrael, United States
Alma materIsraeli Naval Academy
Baruch College
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder, WeWork
Height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
SpouseRebekah Neumann
Children6
Military career
AllegianceIsrael
Service/branchIsraeli Navy
Years of service1996–2001
RankSeren (Captain) [1]

Adam Neumann (Hebrew: אדם נוימן; born April 25, 1979) is an Israeli-American businessman and investor. In 2010, he co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey, where he served as CEO from 2010 to 2019.[2][3] In 2019, he co-founded a family office dubbed 166 2nd Financial Services with his wife, Rebekah Neumann, to manage their personal wealth,[4] investing over a billion dollars in real estate[5] and venture startups.[6][7]

Following mounting pressure from investors based on disclosures made in a public offering filing, Neumann resigned as CEO of WeWork and gave up majority voting control as of September 26, 2019.[8] Forbes estimated his net worth to be around US$1.4 billion as of June 2022.[2]

Biography

Adam Neumann was born in Israel. His parents divorced when he was 7 and he lived in 13 different homes by the time he was 22.[9] He suffers from dyslexia and could not read or write until he was in third grade.[10] As a child, he lived in a kibbutz. He is a former officer in the Israeli Navy.[1] He later attended the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College in New York City.[11]

Neumann lives in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City with his wife, Rebekah Neumann, and their six children.[12] Neumann's sister, Adi Neumann, is a model and former Miss Teen Israel.[13][14]

In 2018, Neumann gave a keynote speech at an event held by UJA-Federation of New York where he spoke of observing Shabbat with his family every week[15][16] and the role Judaism has played in his personal and professional growth.[17]

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019 that Neumann had aspirations to live forever, become the world's first trillionaire, expand WeWork to the planet Mars, become Israel's prime minister, and become "president of the world".[18] A September 2019 Vanity Fair article reported that Neumann made claims that he convinced Rahm Emanuel to run for the presidency of the United States, used JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon as his personal banker, convinced Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman to improve the standing of women in Saudi Arabia, and claimed to be working with Jared Kushner on the Trump administration's peace plan for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[19]


Business career

Prior to founding WeWork, Neumann founded a children's clothing company, Krawlers.[11][20] Neumann and Miguel McKelvey began working together, having met through a mutual friend, on Green Desk in 2008, a shared-workspace business focusing on sustainability, the precursor to WeWork.[20] The pair sold their interest in Green Desk[21] and using the funds along with a $15 million investment from Brooklyn real estate developer Joel Schreiber for a 33% interest in the company,[22] they founded WeWork in 2010.[20] Neumann stated that with WeWork, he intended to replicate the feeling of togetherness and belonging he felt in Israel and that he thought was lacking in the West.[23]

According to The Wall Street Journal, Neumann chartered a Gulfstream G650 for a trip from the United States to Israel during the summer of 2018. Neumann and his friends spent much of the flight smoking marijuana during the flight. After landing in Israel, the flight crew found a cereal box stuffed with marijuana and reported it to the jet owner. Fearing a marijuana trafficking incident, the jet's owner ordered it to return to the US. Neumann and his friends had to book a separate flight back.[24]

In 2018, WeWork faced a lawsuit from a former employee who identified issues of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviors in the workplace. In her statement, she mentioned that Neumann "plied [her] with tequila shots during her interview with the company."[25][26] Shortly after this claim was made, WeWork put an end to its unlimited beer for employees and implemented a policy of only four beers per day in the New York office.[27]

On September 22, 2019, there were reports, from outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, that various WeWork directors were planning on asking Neumann to step down as CEO, after "a tumultuous week in which his eccentric behavior and drug use came to light" before a planned IPO.[28] The Wall Street Journal reported that he had taken $700 million out of WeWork before the IPO, among other details, and "undermined his position" at the company.[29] Neumann also repaid $5.9 million that the company had paid him in exchange for his trademark of the word "We".[30][31] On September 24, 2019, he resigned and Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham were named as successors.[32]

In October 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Neumann would receive close to $1.7 billion from stakeholder SoftBank for stepping down from WeWork's board and severing most of his ties to the company.[33] Weeks later, minority shareholders filed a lawsuit against Neumann and other WeWork officials for breach of its fiduciary duties.[34] On February 24, 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Neumann had received about $130 million of the $185 million in consulting fees agreed to be paid by SoftBank before SoftBank ceased making the remainder of the payments to him.[35] On May 27, 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported the terms of a renegotiated severance package between Neumann and SoftBank, replacing that from October, 2019.[36] Among other terms, Neumann received $106 million in cash more than the $92.5 million in consulting fees previously received (in contrast to the $130 million figure reported by the WSJ on February 24, 2021, for previously received consulting fees from SoftBank), with about $50 million of that to pay for his legal fees. The renegotiated settlement package also "let him refinance $432 million in debt on favorable terms and allowed an entity Mr. Neumann controls to sell $578 million in WeWork stock." The Wall Street Journal also reported that Neumann received a new WeWork stock award of "roughly $245 million," but "if the price [of WeWork] falls below $10 [per share], Mr. Neumann is ineligible to receive the stock award." The May 2021, securities disclosure filings were made "as WeWork completes a merger with BowX Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company."[37]

On 5 March 2021, Forbes listed his net worth at US$750 million, having dropped off the Forbes billionaires list in 2020.[38]

As of March 2022, Neumann has shifted focus to property investing in Miami.[39] In August, it was announced that Andreessen Horowitz had invested in Neumann's new residential real-estate company, Flow.[40] At the time of the announcement, the company said its expected launch was in 2023.[41] Marc Andreessen, one of the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, signaled in a memo that Flow may make efforts to create more equity in the housing market by helping renters eventually own the unit they are renting.[42] Andreessen has long been outspoken about housing market inequity in the U.S. and his belief in the need to build more housing, but the announcement of his investment in Flow came less than two weeks after it was revealed that he strongly opposed a multifamily housing project in his neighborhood.[43][44]

In May 2022, Neumann was reported as being behind Flowcarbon, a carbon credit trading platform that runs on blockchain.[45][46]

Investments

In 2018, Neumann became a partner of InterCure, an Israeli cannabis company led by Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel[47][48] and invested in EquityBee,[49] a start-up for tech investors,[50] and Selina, a hospitality company.[51] In early 2020, Neumann invested US$10 million into multimodal shared mobility company GOTO Global, taking a 33% equity stake in the company.[52]

Property

In 2012, Neumann partnered with Ken Horn of Alchemy Properties and Joel Schreiber and purchased for US$68 million the top floors of the Woolworth Building, which they then converted into condominiums.[22]

As CEO, Neumann on multiple occasions purchased buildings and then leased the space back to WeWork.[53] Observers noted this as a potential conflict of interest and one that would not be allowed if WeWork were a public company.[54] During his tenure as CEO of WeWork, Neumann also purchased US$90 million worth of residences, including a 60-acre (24 ha) estate in Westchester County, New York, a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) condominium near Gramercy Park, two homes in The Hamptons, and a US$21 million mansion in Corte Madera, California.[19]

Neumann has begun purchasing apartment buildings and, as of early 2022, owned some 4,000 apartments worth about US$1 billion primarily located in the American South.[55]

Adam Neumann talking at TechCrunch, 2015

In the Apple TV+ series WeCrashed (2022), Neumann is portrayed by Jared Leto.[56]

The HBO docuseries Generation Hustle, which profiles American scammers, produced an episode about the Neumann's leadership at WeWork.[57]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nicolaou, Anna (March 18, 2016). "WeWork cultivating 'physical social network'". Financial Times. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Forbes Profile: Adam Nuemann". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  3. ^ Gelles, David; de la Merced, Michael J.; Eavis, Peter; Sorkin, Andrew Ross (Sep 24, 2019). "WeWork C.E.O. Adam Neumann Steps Down Under Pressure". Retrieved Sep 26, 2019 – via The New York Times.
  4. ^ Ghosh, Shona (1 November 2019). "Here are the 3 men quietly overseeing WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann's millions". Business Insider.
  5. ^ Fu, Emily (7 January 2022). "Ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann's New Role: Multifamily Landlord". commercialobserver.com. Observer Media.
  6. ^ Mathews, Jessica (18 March 2022). "WeWork founder Adam Neumann is back—as a VC". Fortune.
  7. ^ Putzier, Konrad; Brown, Eliot (4 January 2022). "WeWork Co-Founder Adam Neumann Is Becoming an Apartment Mogul". The Wall Street Journal.
  8. ^ Annie Palmer (30 September 2019). "WeWork pulls IPO filing". Cnbc.com. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  9. ^ Everything You Need to Know About WeWork Founder Adam Neumann
  10. ^ Bertoni, Steven. "WeWork's $20 Billion Office Party: The Crazy Bet That Could Change How The World Does Business". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  11. ^ a b Loizos, Connie. "WeWork's Adam Neumann is graduating from college today — 15 years after he enrolled". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  12. ^ MACKELDEN, AMY (2022-03-18). "What Happened to WeWork's Adam and Rebekah Neumann?". Harpers Bazaar. Retrieved 2022-03-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Wiedeman, Reeves (2019-06-10). "How Did WeWork's Adam Neumann Build a $47 Billion Company?". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  14. ^ Orpaz, Inbal (31 July 2017). "By Harnessing Israeliness, WeWork Joins the Ranks of Uber, Airbnb". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Wall Street Dinner & Closing Bell After-Party". UJA Federation. December 10, 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  16. ^ Wenkert, Amarelle (January 4, 2019). "WeWork's Adam Neumann Says Observing Jewish Shabbat Helps Him Keep Ego in Check". CTech. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  17. ^ "$31 Million Raised in Record-Breaking UJA Wall Street Dinner". The Jewish Voice. December 12, 2018.
  18. ^ Taylor Telford (September 23, 2019). "Adam Neumann's chaotic energy built WeWork. Now it might cost him his job as CEO". The Washington Post.
  19. ^ a b Sherman, Gabriel (2019-11-21). ""YOU DON'T BRING BAD NEWS TO THE CULT LEADER": INSIDE THE FALL OF WEWORK". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  20. ^ a b c Turk, Victoria (June 6, 2018). "How WeWork became the most hyped startup in the world". Wired. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  21. ^ Wiedeman, Reeves (June 10, 2019). "How did WeWork's Adam Neumann turn office space with "community" into a $47 billion company? Not by sharing". New York.
  22. ^ a b Putzier, Konrad (December 1, 2017). "The story of WeWork's mysterious first investor". The Real Deal.
  23. ^ "אני מתגעגע לישראל כל הזמן, אבל לא הייתי יכול לבנות חברה כמו WeWork בארץ". ynet (in Hebrew). 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  24. ^ Brown, Eliot (2019-09-18). "'This Is Not the Way Everybody Behaves.' How Adam Neumann's Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  25. ^ O'Brien, Ashley (October 12, 2018). "Former WeWork employee sues for sexual harassment, retaliation". CNN Business. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  26. ^ Rajamani, Maya (October 12, 2018). "NYC Woman Assaulted by Two WeWork Employees Amid 'Frat-Boy Culture' That Pervades Coworking Company, Lawsuit Claims". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  27. ^ Small, Eddie (November 2, 2018). "Party foul? Unlimited beer is no longer a thing at WeWork". The Real Deal. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  28. ^ Farrell, Maureen (September 22, 2019). "Some WeWork Board Members Seek to Remove Adam Neumann as CEO". Wall street Journalwww.wsj.com.
  29. ^ Rushe, Dominic (September 30, 2019). "Troubled WeWork scraps share sale after ousting founder Adam Neumann". The Guardian.
  30. ^ Gilbert, Ben. "WeWork paid its own CEO $5.9 million to use the name 'We,' but now he's giving it back after the deal was criticized". Business Insider.
  31. ^ Palmer, Annie (September 4, 2019). "WeWork CEO returns $5.9 million the company paid him for 'We' trademark". CNBC.
  32. ^ Brooker (September 24, 2019). "The fall of WeWork's Adam Neumann". Fast Company.
  33. ^ Maureen Farrell, Eliot Brown (October 22, 2019). "SoftBank to Boost Stake in WeWork in Deal That Cuts Most Ties With Neumann". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  34. ^ "WeWork, ex-CEO Neumann, Softbank sued over botched IPO, plummeting value". Reuters. November 8, 2019.
  35. ^ Brown, Maureen Farrell and Eliot (2021-02-25). "WSJ News Exclusive | WeWork's Adam Neumann to Get Extra $50 Million Payout in SoftBank Settlement". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  36. ^ Farrell, Eliot Brown and Maureen (2021-05-27). "Former WeWork Chief's Gargantuan Exit Package Gets New Sweetener". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  37. ^ Farrell, Eliot Brown and Maureen (2021-05-27). "Former WeWork Chief's Gargantuan Exit Package Gets New Sweetener". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  38. ^ "Adam Neumann Profile". Forbes.
  39. ^ "WeWork's Adam Neumann: Where He & Wife Rebekah Are Now". Marie Claire. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  40. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (2022-08-15). "Adam Neumann's New Company Gets a Big Check From Andreessen Horowitz". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  41. ^ Capoot, Ashley. "Andreessen Horowitz announces plans to invest in Adam Neumann's new residential real estate company". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  42. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (2022-08-15). "Adam Neumann's New Company Gets a Big Check From Andreessen Horowitz". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  43. ^ "It's Time to Build". Andreessen Horowitz. 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  44. ^ Demsas, Jerusalem (2022-08-04). "The Billionaire's Dilemma". The Atlantic. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  45. ^ Jessop, Simon (2022-05-24). "EXCLUSIVE Neumann-backed climate tech venture Flowcarbon raises $70 mln". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  46. ^ Dugan, Kevin T. (2022-05-24). "Adam Neumann's New Business Plan". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  47. ^ Scheer, Steven (December 6, 2018). "Israeli medical cannabis firm InterCure plans Nasdaq listing". Reuters. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  48. ^ Weinreb, Gali (November 28, 2018). "WeWork's Adam Neumann invests in cannabis co InterCure". Globes. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  49. ^ Stoler, Tofi (2018-09-12). "WeWork's Adam Neumann Invests in Stock Option Marketplace EquityBee". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  50. ^ Gallindoss, Alan (November 28, 2018). "WeWork Founder, Adam Neumann Invests In Ehud Barak's Cannabis Company". Jewish Business News. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  51. ^ Putzier, Konrad (December 5, 2018). "Adam Neumann-backed hotel and co-working company Selina expands to NYC". The Real Deal.
  52. ^ Korosec, Kristen. "Adam Neumann is back in the shared economy business with an investment in GoTo Global". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  53. ^ "WeWork CEO owns some buildings WeWork leases, raising conflict of interest concerns". www.bizjournals.com. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  54. ^ Rajamani, Maya (January 17, 2019). "WeWork's Size Gives Startup Public Responsibilities, Sam Zell Says". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  55. ^ Brown, Konrad Putzier and Eliot (4 January 2022). "WSJ News Exclusive | WeWork Co-Founder Adam Neumann Is Becoming an Apartment Mogul". The Wall Street Journal.
  56. ^ Nicholson, Tom (23 March 2022). "The Bizarre True Story of 'WeCrashed', Jared Leto's WeWork Drama". Esquire.
  57. ^ DODES, RACHEL. "HOW BILLIONAIRE REBEKAH NEUMANN PUT THE WOO-WOO IN WEWORK". vanityfair.com. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
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