The co-founder said a $4.2 billion offer after a brief meeting with Masayoshi Son changed how he viewed the company.
WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has identified a 2016 meeting with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son as the moment when, in his view, the company began to lose sight of its original purpose. Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, he recalled that a brief conversation continued in Son’s car and ended with a $4.2 billion investment offer, written up on an iPad.
The previous night, WeWork’s board had approved a plan for Neumann to raise $300 million to $400 million, slow expansion, reach profitability and then pursue an IPO. He said the SoftBank offer shifted his focus towards money and valuation. SoftBank’s investment eventually totalled $4.4 billion.
WeWork’s valuation reached $47 billion, but losses continued to grow. The company reported a $1.9 billion net loss for 2018. Neumann also pointed to a weakness in its model: it took on long-term leases for expensive properties while members could rent desks on shorter commitments.
The planned 2019 IPO was shelved amid losses and investor concerns about Neumann’s control. He stepped down as chief executive that September. WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2023 with nearly $19 billion in debt.
Neumann now runs Flow, a residential real-estate startup launched in 2022. He said Andreessen Horowitz had invested $470 million in Flow and his family had put in another $350 million. Looking back on WeWork’s collapse, he said he had no regrets.