Will Adam Neumann Buy Back WeWork?

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann is reportedly trying to buy back the bankrupt company. (laughs) This is my favorite story. I thought you'd love it. Reminder, WeWork filed for bankruptcy in November of 2023, four years after Adam Neumann stepped down. Neumann's attempts to purchase, uh, apparently stretch back to October 2022 when he attempted to arrange a billion dollars in financing, but he was stonewalled by former CEO Sandeep Mathrani. The letter was sent by Neumann's counsel, cited the support of Dan Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point. But in response, the fund said it only had preliminary conversations with Neumann, oh, look at that, and had not made a commitment to participate at, you know, funding secured, I guess. Um, uh, I... Just go for it, Scott. You're the, you're the WeWork guy.

2. SGScott Galloway0:42

   Well, uh- (sighs) you gotta give the guy credit. I mean, he kinda has no shame. I, I believe that the reason Adam Neumann was not brought up on criminal charges, I don't know if he would've been found guilty, and the reason why, um, Elizabeth Holmes is in prison is that... is, is a cultural issue involving saving face. And that is, uh, Masayoshi-san decided, or Masa, didn't wanna lose face and declare bankruptcy and say that he'd been fooled by Adam Neumann, um, and as a result, uh, Adam Neumann, who is the ultimate poker player in terms of just kind of enormous balls said, "I'll let this thing go under unless you buy me out at a ridiculous premium." He walked away with, I think, 10 or... No one has ever got a 10% commission. That has never happened before. Usually the complaint is, "Okay, this company's very profitable, but you're overpaying the CEO." I mean, y- you know, if you, whatever you think about Elon Musk compensation and that, that the compensation committee was not representing all shareholders and could've, you know, they, they probably could've got the same deal paying him $10 billion, the, this is unprecedented. And he is shameless. He went out and immediately did a high-profile thing around trying to pretend that buying apartments was somehow like-

3. KSKara Swisher2:00

   Yeah.

4. SGScott Galloway2:00

   ... a chutz and something-

5. KSKara Swisher2:01

   Where did that go?

6. SGScott Galloway2:02

   ... that flow.

7. KSKara Swisher2:02

   Where did that go?

8. SGScott Galloway2:03

   I think, I think Andreessen Horowitz is probably already regretting getting in bed with this guy. It's not a good look for them.

9. KSKara Swisher2:09

   Mm-hmm.

10. SGScott Galloway2:09

    And now he's back saying, uh, anyways, if he, if his board had decided to, had all of a sudden gone, "You know, he misled us," and got aggressive with him-

11. KSKara Swisher2:19

    Mm-hmm.

12. SGScott Galloway2:19

    ... I think this could've been a very d- different outcome for him. And instead-

13. KSKara Swisher2:24

    Mm-hmm.

14. SGScott Galloway2:24

    ... he's back and trying to buy, um, uh, uh, WeWork out of bankruptcy. I don't think the judge is gonna look kindly on him having taken-

15. KSKara Swisher2:33

    Yeah.

16. SGScott Galloway2:33

    ... so much money out and then showing up to buy the bo- I'd even think there's a law.

17. KSKara Swisher2:37

    Yeah. He's (laughs) he's got it set though, doesn't he?

18. SGScott Galloway2:39

    Oh, my gosh. And not only that-

19. KSKara Swisher2:40

    Uh, have, have you spent time with him? He's very amusing. I had breakfast with him once, and he's super amusing, but-

20. SGScott Galloway2:46

    No.

21. KSKara Swisher2:46

    ... you know, I kept reaching for my wallet, and I wa- I was like, "Mm..."

22. SGScott Galloway2:49

    No, I just heard-

23. KSKara Swisher2:49

    He's very charming.

24. SGScott Galloway2:50

    I heard from my-

25. KSKara Swisher2:51

    Charming, charming.

26. SGScott Galloway2:51

    I have a couple of friends at WeWork, and I heard from them in the morning. I put out that thing-

27. KSKara Swisher2:57

    Hm.

28. SGScott Galloway2:57

    ... and, and when the IPO unwound basically-

29. KSKara Swisher2:59

    Yeah.

30. SGScott Galloway2:59

    ... saying, "Thanks. My kids can't go to school now." Um, but anyways, he's, um, i- i- the... When Dan Loeb comes out and says, "No," (laughs) , "Adam's exaggerating," that's a really b- bad look for Adam Neumann. And I would bet-

Episode duration: 6:27