The disgraced and ousted former WeWork CEO partied in New York yesterday with 100 of his earliest WeWork employees after the company made its public-market debut Thursday with a value of $9 billion – just two years after the shared office space company nearly went bankrupt under his leadership.
Adam Neumann, who lost the status of a billionaire after WeWork’s stock price plummeted following its first attempt to go public was now worth an estimated $2.3billion
Although this is only a fraction the fortune of WeWork’s peak, it’s enough to make him billionaire for the first-time since 2019. He celebrated his success in New York with champagne and a T-shirt reading ‘Student For Life.
Forbes reports that Neumann still has an 11.1% stake in WeWork, valued at around $722million.
The company’s $9billion valuation with shares opening at $11.28 represents a significant drop from the $47billion the company reportedly reached when it attempted to go public in 2019.
However, that attempt failed spectacularly in August 2002. After investors became concerned about Neumann’s excessive spending and erratic behavior, Neumann was fired.
The pandemic exacerbated the losses caused by that failure.

After WeWork went public on Thursday, the former CEO of WeWork was disgraced. He will be receiving a massive $660 million payment from WeWork. This brings Neumann’s net worth to $2.3B. Forbes estimates that Neumann’s fortune, which includes his partnership units and common stock of nearly $700 million, is tied up in WeWork

After recovering from a dramatic collapse two years ago, WeWork is now publicly traded.
During a virtual investor meeting earlier this month, executives revealed that the company earned $658 millions in third quarter 2021 revenue.
Neumann hosted a party in New York City’s Standard Hotel to celebrate the launch of WeWork shares at the New York Stock Exchange. More than 100 of his former employees were invited to the booze-soaked celebration.
Neumann said to a New York Post reporter that he felt amazing as he spoke outside the swanky hotel. He was gathering a crowd of people and press at a bar located at the hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District. WeWork shares have soared up to 11 percent.
While they waited for the opening bell and the first trade of WeWork stock, champagne was served to guests as early as 9 AM. Mimosas were also available.
Neumann, who was dressed in a black Tshirt that read, “Student For Life”, addressed crowd. Miguel McKelvey is his WeWork cofounder.
Neumann stated that it was a very special day and added that he had stopped by Wall Street to see if there was a sign notifying traders about WeWork’s entry into the public markets. This sign refers to a huge WeWork flag placed on the New York Stock Exchange’s face.
He hugged McKelvey several times throughout his speech, stating that a brand without a history does not have a future.
Neumann was also able to keep nearly 20,000,000 WeWork Partnerships Profits Interest units in addition to his stake.
After the merger, they will be free to convert into common stock of the newly-public company.
These units are worth approximately $200 Million based on the SPAC’s $10 share price.
The rest of Neumann’s net worth is derived from the cash he has earned from WeWork shares over time and his lucrative separation arrangement, which he signed after the startup dropped previous plans for an initial public offer in 2019.
Executives from the company stated that they had decided to ‘postpone the IPO to concentrate on our core business, which is still strong’.
They indicated that they intended to make the company public but they also stated that they had every intention of operating WeWork as a public company.
Neumann stepped down after his unusual personal conduct – and use of company assets – came under fire.
The Wall Street Journal reported that he had smoked marijuana with his friends shortly before he quit.
The unusual executive used WeWork’s corporate plane as his office in the sky to travel for work and meet with employees.

Employees have spoken up about the cult-like atmosphere at WeWork and the behavior and smoking of marijuana by its so-called partyer in chief.

Rebekah Neumann, Adam Neumann, and Rebekah Neumann can be seen in 2018. Until WeWork’s IPO failed catastrophically, Neumann’s investors were happy to entertain his eccentricities.
He also held parties in the custom aircraft and used it for transporting his wife Rebekah and their five kids around the world.
Neumann, 41 years old, and his wife sold their California estate, which was shaped like a guitar, for $22.4 million in April 2021. This was 10 months after the initial listing with a $27.5million price tag.
In October of last year, reports surfaced of Neumann’s ‘tequila-fueled leadership style.’

Neumann, 41, and Rebekah Paltrow Neumann sold their California estate of 11 acres shaped like a guitar in April 2021 for $22.4 million

The ornate home was sold 10 months after it was placed on the market at $27.5 million.
A number of employees have come forward to say that they were subjected both to a cult-like work environment at WeWork as well as to the allegedly unprofessional behavior by its party leader.
WeWork, which had coworking spaces in more 110 cities in 29 different countries, was valued at $47billion at its peak. Neumann was seen as the next Steve Jobs – a Silicon Valley innovator that would change the world.
But Neumann’s office suites were absurd even by the standards of Silicon Valley bosses. In his early days, he had a punching box, a gong, and a bar. Later, he had his own bathroom with a sauna and cold-plunge tub in his New York office.

After the first failed IPO in 2019, he was allegedly seen smoking marijuana with his friends on a private jet flight from New York to Israel.
WeWork’s hysteria reached a peak in 2017, when SoftBank invested $4.4billion. Neumann declared that the company’s worth was based more upon its energy and spirituality rather than on revenue.
He said, “We are here to change the world. Nothing less than that interests us.”
Neumann joked that he could be the President of the United States and even suggested that he could be the President of the World.
WeWork filed for its first public offering, which brought down the dream and forced WeWork to disclose its finances.
Neumann resigned as chief executive in September 2019.
WeWork stands to take in around $1.3 billion from its merger with blank-check firm BowX Acquisition Corp. in addition to a $150 million from Cushman & Wakefield, according to the Financial Times.