We-turn of the king… WeWork founder Adam Neumann stepped down as CEO in 2019 after being accused of unethical practices like pregnancy discrimination, excessive drug use, and misuse of company cash (see: private-jet parties). But he didn’t walk away empty-handed: Softbank reportedly paid Neumann $1.7B to ditch his coworking empire. Now he’s reportedly returning to the real-estate game:
- Neumann, WeLoaded: He’s invested $1B in 4K+ apartments, WSJ reports. He’s said to be building a company to shake up the rental biz (no concrete deets yet).
- Neumann’s new digs focus on Southern cities like Miami, Atlanta, and Nashville, where real estate has boomed as workers flock to warmer, cheaper, and tax-friendlier locales.
Kicked out of their companies… and into the news cycle. Neumann isn’t the only disgraced founder who’s been very visible lately. Elizabeth Holmes, founder of blood-testing biz Theranos, has been dominating headlines during her criminal trial — and was just found guilty of fraud. Meanwhile, Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who was ousted on allegations of fostering workplace harassment, has made headlines for his new ventures.
Founder drive doesn’t bruise as easily as reputations… Determined founders can rebound even after their reputations take huge hits, especially if they’ve got enough cash. It’s TBD whether Neumann will raise money from investors for his rental venture — but he may not need to, thanks to his personal stash. Kalanick had no trouble raising $1.3B for his ghost-kitchen biz CloudKitchens, which just hit a $15B valuation. And while Holmes was barred from taking an exec role at a public company for a decade, we could be reading about her next startup down the line.