Adam Neumann is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded WeWork.
But what is the story behind Neumann and what is his net worth?
Who is Adam Neumann?
Adam Neumann was born in 1979 in Beersheba, Israel.
Following his parent’s divorce, Neumann moved around Israel, living in 13 homes by the time he turned 22.
Neumann has dyslexia and couldn’t read or write until he was 8.
During his late teens, he served as an officer in the Israeli Navy for five years. “That’s where I got to know a lot of my best friends,” Neumann said.
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In 2001, Neumann moved to New York, where he lived in a Tribeca apartment with his sister Adi.
He attended the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and majored in business.
While at college, he worked on two business ventures: a collapsible heeled shoe, and baby clothes with built-in knee pads called Krawlers.
The collapsible heeled shoe failed but he dropped out of college just before graduating to pursue the second idea.
Krawlers evolved into the baby-clothing company Egg Baby in 2006.
Egg Baby still exists today, but Neumann is no longer involved.
Adam Neumann worked in the same office building as Miguel McKelvey – who co-founded WeWork – and the pair met at a party.
In 2008, Neumann started renting out part of his Krawlers office to someone he found on Craigslist.
From this, Green Desk was born, which was an eco-friendly coworking space.
After selling up to their landlord, the pair used the funds to then create WeWork in 2010, with the first office space opening up in Soho, Manhattan.
Under Neumann as CEO, WeWork expanded to provide coworking desk spaces in nearly 40 countries and was valued at $47 billion.
In 2017, Neumann delivered the famous 12-minute pitch to SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son which raised $4.4 billion.
But by September 22, 2019, there were a number of reports that WeWork investors were wanting Neumann to step down as CEO, after “a tumultuous week in which his eccentric behaviour and drug use came to light” before a planned IPO.
It was reported he had taken $700 million out of WeWork before the IPO.
In October 2019, Neumann received close to $1.7 billion from stakeholder SoftBank for severing ties with the company.
On November 6, 2019, SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son admitted his “really bad judgement” in investing in WeWork after the tech investment fund reported the biggest loss in its 38-year history.
Neumann still owns a 10 per cent stake.
In 2022, Neumann started a new company called Flow, focused on the residential real estate market.
Flow received a $350 million investment from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Neumann said: “We want to create an elevated experience for the resident and we want to find a way to share with the resident a portion of the value they create.”
What is Adam Neumann’s net worth?
Adam Neumann has a net worth of $2.2 billion.
At his peak, Neumann was worth $4 billion and has spent over $80 million on five homes, including two properties in New York and one home in the Hamptons.
In 2018, he purchased a home in San Francisco for $21 million.
Neumann has invested in a number of startups including a wave-pool maker, a superfood startup, which sells things like ‘performance mushrooms’ and a medical marijuana firm.