Adam Neumann admits mistakes, reveals plans

“I’ve learned two things from WeWork: to choose my business partners better and understand who my friends are,” Adam Neumann, founder and partner at WeWork and Flow, admitted in a special speech to the Globes Business Conference. Newman spoke about the insights he gained from his personal and professional journey, promised that business would flourish under Donald Trump’s next term as President of the United States, and called for the release of hostages being held in Gaza.

“When I was in second grade, my parents divorced,” Newman said. “My grandmother took me to lunch and gave me the menu to choose a meal from. When I couldn’t read it, she was the first to recognize that I was dyslexic. She treated me, invested in and supported me through my childhood and in the military.” And in my professional career.”

Neumann founded co-working space company WeWork, which collapsed in August 2023, and has since invested in a range of areas. “WeWork changed the office world. We had an amazing team working in more than 130 countries in 500 cities on five continents. There wasn’t a person who didn’t step into their office and ask what we were doing. But I learned from the mistakes.

“If I were to share my mistakes right now, I would have to talk for an hour and a half, so I’ll share two of them,” Newman said. “True partners in life, whether personal or business, are measured during hardships or problems. I hope you never have to experience that, but true partnerships are measured during difficult times, and when I choose partners, I no longer choose during the good times. The second lesson is Friendships. The day before I left WeWork, I had a thousand friends, and the next day I had less than ten, and that’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. It happens when you’re going through hardships.”

“It is precisely because of the war that I invest in it.”

When founding Flow, Neumann said that after the collapse of WeWork, he opened a family office. “We spent the first year thinking about what we were learning and what had changed. In the process, we bought the buildings in 2020, when Covid started, because it seemed like a good deal for us.” Neumann said that Marc Andreessen, who invested in his company, expressed interest in the acquisitions he was making.

“I told him my thoughts about WeWork, and he said, ‘I see, you’re still at that point where you believe everything the press says about you, instead of remembering what you’ve done.’ He said, ‘Do you know what you think of us?’ “We have 400 companies and only one product that all the companies were in or are in now – WeWork.” After conversations between us, he told me he wanted to be a partner. They invested $350 million, and so did we, and two years and three months ago we founded the company.

Newman added: “Those of you who know the housing world know that 70% of people under the age of 40 in the United States rent apartments and spend a third of their income on rent. Everything has a brand, only in housing – and this is the biggest. We have bought 3,000 buildings.” , we built a management and technology company – we created a profitable brand, our operations were lower, and our buildings increased net noise by more than 25%.

Neumann spoke about the investment that led Flow to acquire 29% of revenue-generating Israeli real estate company Canada Global (TASE:CNGL). “Investors said to me: ‘Do you want to invest now? During the war?’ I told them it was precisely because of the war I was investing in, and because I was from Israel and because it was a lucrative business, I told them: “When things go well, you will regret not coming.” I am surrounded by many wealthy Israelis, and I tell them: “Bring your money from all over the world and put it in Israel.” Regarding the partnership with Barak Rosen and Assaf Toshmir, the controlling owners of Canada Global, he said: “I called Barak and Assi, whom I admire very much, and who have achieved great success in the real estate world, and we started talking. We realized how much synergy there was in our goals, and so the partnership with Canada Global, which I strongly believe in.”

Newman also spoke about the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States: “Whether you are on the right or the left, note that he and his people love and support Israel in an incredible way – both politically and economically. Pay attention people.” “He chooses and what they stand for, I think Israel will have a very good four years of business.”

Newman also spoke about his meetings with Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omar, who is being held hostage in Gaza. “My wife, Rivka, and I host a Shabbat. Before the Torah reading, someone always speaks: a soldier out of Gaza, a bereaved mother, a hostage who has been released. We want the Jewish Americans who live around us to understand what is happening. I spent Shabbat with Shelly, I saw a very strong woman and I didn’t know what to say, so I told her: “I can’t understand what you’re feeling.” She said to me: “Man, I don’t want anyone to understand what I’m feeling.”

Shelley asked how many children I had, and I told her six. Then she asked me if I had ever lost a child at the mall. I once lost a child for three minutes, and it was hysterical and we still talk about it two years later. “Imagine that after spending more than a year in the tunnels, you would be a thousandth of a percent the way I feel,” she told me. Shelly prepares in minutes. 608,000 minutes spent in captivity. Chile, we are with you, bring these hostages back to your homeland!”

The Globes Business Conference in Israel is held in cooperation with Bank Hapoalim and Phoenix Holdings, and is sponsored by El Al, Bezeq, Nespresso, Walt, Dell, the Israel Medical Association, Energean, the Jewish National Fund, BlackRock, Playtica, Meta, Strauss Group, Bazin Group, Inc. MSCI, with the participation of Mekorot, the Port of Ashdod, and the Israel Innovation Authority.

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on December 3, 2024.

© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.