Wework founder - Adam Neuman not a billionaire anymore

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darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,075
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Hadn't heard of this guy, but sounds like he was doing a sorta...what do they call uber/airbnb/etc? Gigeconomy or something? Basically doing a version of that for business real estate? I bet we start seeing bubbles on those types of companies burst as the economy tightens due to Republicans greed fucking things up again.

Frankly I think Uber at this point is a straight up money laundering scheme or maybe tax scam as it bleeds money like mad, can't seem to make their base business plan profitable (seems like they were banking that autonomous vehicles would let them ditch the drivers and they seemed to have been banking on it happening sooner than later, which of course they fucked up because of their shit corporate culture that had them playing fast and loose with the technology).

Back to this guy and "Wework", sounds like after he got serious investments it went to his head and he started the (seemingly inevitable) power hungry corruption shenanigans.

I'd probably liken him more to a Weird Al parody of Elizabeth Holmes or something. There was actually a Theranos place when I first moved down here. It didn't stay open to long, but I have no clue why the hell they even had "stores" as that had to cost ridiculous amounts of money for little benefit to their original plan. I know they were basically trying to transition to just a typical lab testing (with them probably looking to utilize the info in some database and sell the information), but it still was just blatantly stupid business plan and investors should've been asking what they were thinking. I have to wonder if those places even adhered to regulations (hell just basic ones for staffing and medical testing, let alone higher stuff like HIPPA).
 
Starbuck1975

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
14,698
1,909
126
darkswordsman17 said:
Hadn't heard of this guy, but sounds like he was doing a sorta...what do they call uber/airbnb/etc? Gigeconomy or something? Basically doing a version of that for business real estate? I bet we start seeing bubbles on those types of companies burst as the economy tightens due to Republicans greed fucking things up again.

Frankly I think Uber at this point is a straight up money laundering scheme or maybe tax scam as it bleeds money like mad, can't seem to make their base business plan profitable (seems like they were banking that autonomous vehicles would let them ditch the drivers and they seemed to have been banking on it happening sooner than later, which of course they fucked up because of their shit corporate culture that had them playing fast and loose with the technology).

Back to this guy and "Wework", sounds like after he got serious investments it went to his head and he started the (seemingly inevitable) power hungry corruption shenanigans.

I'd probably liken him more to a Weird Al parody of Elizabeth Holmes or something. There was actually a Theranos place when I first moved down here. It didn't stay open to long, but I have no clue why the hell they even had "stores" as that had to cost ridiculous amounts of money for little benefit to their original plan. I know they were basically trying to transition to just a typical lab testing (with them probably looking to utilize the info in some database and sell the information), but it still was just blatantly stupid business plan and investors should've been asking what they were thinking. I have to wonder if those places even adhered to regulations (hell just basic ones for staffing and medical testing, let alone higher stuff like HIPPA).
Click to expand...
These companies will burst because they have no business models. Politics have nothing to do with it. The “gig”’economy is simply tech enabled worker exploitation. Disruption is not using technology to circumvent worker protections, its good old fashioned greed.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
84,055
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Adam Neumann's actual net worth should be $0, at least so far as WeWork is concerned, because that is the actual value of the company.
 
S

s0me0nesmind1

Lifer
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
Starbuck1975 said:
These companies will burst because they have no business models. Politics have nothing to do with it. The “gig”’economy is simply tech enabled worker exploitation. Disruption is not using technology to circumvent worker protections, its good old fashioned greed.
Click to expand...

Yeah but... you know... republicans... and.... rah rah! something something.

lol

WeWork failed for a lot of reasons. They thought it would be a good idea, so they invested heavily. Didn't work out. Entrepreneurs are there to take risks. Sometimes those risks fail - hence why it's a risk. Hence why money was lost. This isn't complicated, and this isn't political.
 
senseamp

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,195
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He deserves the $600M for convincing Softbank CEO to sink $12B into this company with no tech and no moat. That's no easy feat.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
84,055
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s0me0nesmind1 said:
Yeah but... you know... republicans... and.... rah rah! something something.

lol

WeWork failed for a lot of reasons. They thought it would be a good idea, so they invested heavily. Didn't work out. Entrepreneurs are there to take risks. Sometimes those risks fail - hence why it's a risk. Hence why money was lost. This isn't complicated, and this isn't political.
Click to expand...

WeWork was a pretty obviously bad idea for a long time now.

1) Its long term liabilities are absolutely insane.
2) It is losing tons of money even in a high demand environment.
3) If there is a recession and demand for office space declines significantly there is no fucking way they will be able to afford their lease obligations.
4) The CEO has been engaged in a lot of highly questionable behavior with the company, including having his own company lease space from him and buying its trademark from him for millions.

There are companies that engage in lease arbitrage like WeWork is trying to do but they do so with way less exposure. I’m no financial whiz but I see no way this business plan worked long term. Seemed like a bet on IPO culture. It almost worked too!
 
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s0me0nesmind1

Lifer
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
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fskimospy said:
WeWork was a pretty obviously bad idea for a long time now.

1) Its long term liabilities are absolutely insane.
2) It is losing tons of money even in a high demand environment.
3) If there is a recession and demand for office space declines significantly there is no fucking way they will be able to afford their lease obligations.
4) The CEO has been engaged in a lot of highly questionable behavior with the company, including having his own company lease space from him and buying its trademark from him for millions.

There are companies that engage in lease arbitrage like WeWork is trying to do but they do so with way less exposure. I’m no financial whiz but I see no way this business plan worked long term. Seemed like a bet on IPO culture. It almost worked too!
Click to expand...

Yeap, so was that movie theater company that allowed unlimited movies at any theater (which escapes me of what they were called)... That was a bad idea as well. But hey... they tried... some people invested and lost money...

Not every fat cat investor is squirting with money and profits all the time... they can also *gasp* lose money as well.
 
Bitek

Bitek

Lifer
Aug 2, 2001
10,647
5,220
136
fskimospy said:
Adam Neumann's actual net worth should be $0, at least so far as WeWork is concerned, because that is the actual value of the company.
Click to expand...

That's being generous even. It seems like mostly a ill-conceived business built on bullshit and debt that's destined to blow up spectacularly one day.

To escape just broke is probably lucky.
 
D

darkswordsman17

Lifer
Mar 11, 2004
23,075
5,557
146
Bitek said:
That's being generous even. It seems like mostly a ill-conceived business built on bullshit and debt that's destined to blow up spectacularly one day.

To escape just broke is probably lucky.
Click to expand...

Oh dear! Did you qualify the wording of your post with the great Future plc beforehand? I worry that you might raise the ire of our great and lovely website owners who deign to grace us with such a perfect forum on which to post words. I would not wish for one to fall into ill reputation.

Your posts are raising the ire of the mods and that is worse.
admin allisolm
 
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Fanatical Meat

Fanatical Meat

Lifer
Feb 4, 2009
34,577
15,794
136
Starbuck1975 said:
These companies will burst because they have no business models. Politics have nothing to do with it. The “gig”’economy is simply tech enabled worker exploitation. Disruption is not using technology to circumvent worker protections, its good old fashioned greed.
Click to expand...

Yup, keep seeing $1500 guaranteed for your first 300 rides in my Facebook feed. They even offer to rent a car to you for the week.
Let’s do the math
Above is $5.00 per ride, assuming drive-time to get to the person and the trip it has to be 15 minutes, $20.00 per hour max
Now roll a $85-$125 daily car rental into that, plus gas, plus possible mileage overages.
Not a lot of money left over. Tech is treating the Gig economy like factory owners did before unions or federal employment rules.
 
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zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,594
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s0me0nesmind1 said:
Yeap, so was that movie theater company that allowed unlimited movies at any theater (which escapes me of what they were called)... That was a bad idea as well. But hey... they tried... some people invested and lost money...

Not every fat cat investor is squirting with money and profits all the time... they can also *gasp* lose money as well.
Click to expand...

he's not saying "well, they tried. it fails if it doesn't work."

The point is that it was a shady model set for failure from the beginning. There are times when you simply bet on an actual product that you think is great, that people will need or want, and just general things happen and the market doesn't work for you. That's what you're trying to extol.

...this is a scam from the beginning, more or less. He didn't even try, because he planned to fail or simply had no idea what he was doing from the beginning.
 
B

brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
26,146
24,081
136
zinfamous said:
he's not saying "well, they tried. it fails if it doesn't work."

The point is that it was a shady model set for failure from the beginning. There are times when you simply bet on an actual product that you think is great, that people will need or want, and just general things happen and the market doesn't work for you. That's what you're trying to extol.

...this is a scam from the beginning, more or less. He didn't even try, because he planned to fail or simply had no idea what he was doing from the beginning.
Click to expand...

Yet he walks away with 1.7B + whatever he had already extracted from the company.
 
senseamp

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,195
126
Basically, because he had voting control and WeWork was too big to fail for SoftBank, Neumann demanded to be paid off before allowing SoftBank to save his company. Brilliant play.
As far as SoftBank:
3e6atx.jpg
 
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