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Adam Neumann was fired by WeWork’s board in September 2019 as the company…

2026-05-11 · 12:00 UTC ·@girdley ·1 min read

Brief

WeWork rose as a marketed "tech" unicorn to an estimated $47 billion valuation until IPO filings in September 2019 exposed nearly $2 billion in annual losses and led to founder Adam Neumann’s ouster. Neumann reportedly exited with about $1.7 billion, some early backers re-funded his next venture, and @girdley released a long-form video (May 11, 2026) tracing how the fantasy was sold.

Why it matters

Adam Neumann was fired by WeWork’s board in September 2019 as the company prepared to go public.

Key details

  • WeWork peaked at about a $47 billion valuation but was operating as a real-estate business losing nearly $2 billion a year before the IPO attempt.
  • Neumann walked away with roughly $1.7 billion, and several original investors later backed his next startup; @girdley published a long-form video on May 11, 2026, examining the collapse.
Source evidence

NEW LONG FORM VIDEO: How WeWork sold a $47 billion fantasy

So back in September 2019, Adam Neumann, the founder of WeWork, was called into a board meeting and fired from the company he had built into a business once valued at $47 billion. And the strange part was, he wasn’t fired because the company was failing. He was fired because WeWork was about to go public, which meant the company finally had to reveal its financials to the world.

For years, WeWork had marketed itself as a revolutionary tech company that was changing how people worked and building community through shared office space. But behind the scenes, it was really a real estate business losing nearly $2 billion a year.

And somehow, despite all of that, Adam Neumann still walked away with roughly $1.7 billion. Even more surprising, many of the same investors who backed him the first time turned around and funded his next startup.

There’s been plenty written about WeWork over the years, but now that we’re a few years removed from the collapse, it’s worth asking: how did this happen in the first place?

This is the rise and fall of WeWork.

Video