Interviews

Adam Neumann denied WeWork fired him

He denied the We trademark story from WeWork's 2019 S-1 and said headcount fell from 13,000 to three in one week.

Adam Neumann said he was not fired from WeWork and that The Wall Street Journal account of his exit was wrong. He made the denials while retracing the 2019 IPO collapse on Diary of a CEO.

Steven Bartlett asked about the S-1 that valued The We Company at roughly $47 billion before investors balked at losses and governance. Neumann said it was not true that he had trademarked the word we and sold it back to the company.

He said WeWork ranked among the fastest physical global expansions on record until the business grew faster than he could. Talk of a $20 billion valuation in Japan and a $5 billion valuation in China turned the mission toward money and ego, and he said he forgot what the company was about.

CNBC reported in 2019 that Neumann returned about $5.9 million in stock The We Company had paid his holding company for the we trademarks, and that an amended S-1 unwound the deal at his direction.

Neumann said employee headcount went from 13,000 to three in one week when the collapse hit.

Source video: Billionaire's WARNING: If You Grow Faster Than You Can Handle, You WILL Crash! | Adam Neumann