WeWork: Inside the former CEO’s $1bn new startup

Adam Neumann is reportedly in command of a billion-dollar real estate firm, close to three years after he left WeWork as CEO after the company’s unsuccessful IPO attempt.

According to The New York Times, which cited unnamed sources briefed on the transaction, Andreessen Horowitz, a renowned venture capital firm best known for its early investments in Twitter and Airbnb, has invested around $350 million in Neumann’s newest endeavor, dubbed Flow. The article claims that the startup was valued at more than $1 billion by the investment.

Flow or Andreessen Horowitz representatives did not immediately answer inquiries for comment.

The investment was disclosed in a blog post on Monday by Marc Andreessen, general partner and co-founder of the venture capital firm. In addition, he stated why he decided to support Neumann and Flow, a residential real estate firm, despite the founder’s well-publicized fall from grace at WeWork.

Andreessen described Adam as a visionary leader who brought community and brand to a sector where neither had existed, revolutionizing commercial real estate, the second-largest asset class in the world. In addition, he noted that the histories of Adam and WeWork had been well documented, examined, and fictionalized—occasionally with correct results. The fact that only one person, Adam Neumann, dramatically altered the office experience and oversaw the creation of a paradigm-shifting international corporation is sometimes overlooked despite the effort expended in covering the tale.

Flow’s intended revolutionization of the residential housing sector is not immediately apparent. However, live life in flow is the motto of Flow’s current sparse website, which also contains the phrases “2023 Launch” and “Live life in flow.”

Andreessen promoted the new company as the long-awaited answer to the “housing catastrophe” facing the country. To describe how the new firm would “build a system where renters obtain the benefits of owners,” he used a variety of jargon-filled words, including “community-driven, experience-centric service.”

How Neumann took WeWork to new heights

WeWork experimented with gyms, a school, and housing under Neumann’s direction as it grew from elaborately perks-shared coworking spaces. The most recent of these initiatives, WeLive, allowed users to rent a bed or a private room in a coliving setting with common rooms open for yoga, ping-pong, and other activities.

At its peak, WeWork was valued at $47 billion on the private market. WeWork then made a disastrous attempt to go public, which was largely thwarted by IPO paperwork that exposed Neumann’s unrestrained power, several possible conflicts of interest, and WeWork’s huge losses. The WeWork board ultimately decided to remove Neumann as CEO, but he left with an exit deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

A television program that featured Neumann in part as the epitome of startup culture’s excesses was inspired by WeWork’s stunning initial attempt to go public and meteoric ascent.

The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, under which WeWork ultimately went public, was founded in 2021. Right now, WeWork is worth around $4 billion on the market.

(Ambassador)

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