"From WeWork I learned two things: to choose my business partners better and to understand who my friends are," Adam Neumann, founder and partner in WeWork and Flow, confessed in a special address to the Globes Business Conference. Neumann spoke about the insights from his personal and professional journey, promised that business would flourish under Donald Trump's upcoming term as US president and called for the release of the hostages held in Gaza.
Neumann recounted, "When I was in second grade my parents got divorced. My grandmother took me out to lunch and gave me the menu to choose a meal. When I wasn't able to read it, she was the first to identify that I was dyslexic. She treated me and invested and supported me in childhood, the army and my business career."
Neumann founded co-working space company WeWork, which collapsed in August 2023 and he has since invested in a range of fields. "WeWork built a change in the office world. We had an amazing team that operated in over 130 countries in 500 cities, on five continents. There isn't a person who hasn't developed offices and asked what we were doing. But I learn from mistakes.
"If I were to share my mistakes now, I would have to talk for an hour and a half, so I will share two of them," Neumann said. "Real partners in life, whether personal or business, are measured during hardships or problems. I hope you never have to test that, but real partnerships are measured hard 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, while the day after I was down to ten. It’s one of the best things that ever happened to me. Knowing who’s real and who’s not and that’s what happens when you go through difficulties."
"It’s precisely because of the war that I invest"
On founding Flow, Neumann said that after WeWork collapsed, 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 buildings in 2020, when Covid began, because it seemed like a good deal to us." Neumann said that Marc Andreessen, who invested in his company, expressed interest in the acquisitions he was making.
"I told him my thoughts on WeWork, and he said, 'I see, you're still at that stage where you believe everything the press says about you, instead of remembering what you've done.' He said, 'You know what we think of you? We have 400 companies and only one product that all the companies were in or are in now - and that's 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."
Neumann added: "Those of you who know the world of housing know that 70% of people under 40 in the US rent apartments and spend a third of their income on rent. Everything has a brand, only in housing - and this is the largest category in the world. We bought 3,000 buildings, built a management and technology company - and created a brand. The buildings are profitable, our operations are lower and our buildings have increased NOI by more than 25%. "
Neumann spoke about the investment that led Flow to acquire 29% of Israeli income-producing real estate company Canada Global (TASE:CNGL). "My investors said: 'You want to invest now? During a war?' I told them that it was precisely because of the war that I was investing, because I was from Israel and because it was good business. I told them: 'When everything goes up, you will regret not coming.' I am surrounded by many wealthy Israelis, and I say, ‘bring your money from around the world and put it in Israel." Regarding the partnership with Barak Rosen and Asaf Touchmair, the controlling owners of Canada Global, he said, "I called Barak and Asi, whom I greatly appreciate, who have been very successful in the real estate world, and we started talking. We realized how much synergy there is in our goals, and that's how the partnership with Canada Global, which I strongly believe in, was born."
Neumann also spoke about the election of Donald Trump as US president: "Whether you are on the right or the left, note that he and his people love Israel and support it in an unbelievable way - both politically and economically. Pay attention to the people he chooses and what they represent. I think Israel is in for a very good four years of business."
Neumann also spoke about his meetings with Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omer, who is being held hostage in Gaza. "My wife, Rivka, and I host on Shabbat. Before the Torah reading, someone always speaks: a soldier who has come out of Gaza, a bereaved mother, a hostage who was released. We want the Jewish Americans who live around us to understand what is happening. I got to spend Shabbat with Shelly, and I saw a very strong woman. I didn't know what to say, and I said to her: 'I can't understand how you feel.' She said to me: 'Man, I don't wish anyone to understand how I feel.'
Shelly asked how many children I have, I told her six. Then she asked if I have ever lost a child in the mall. I once lost a child for three minutes, and it was hysterical and we're still talking about it two years later. She told me: 'Imagine that, over a year in the tunnels, and you'll reach a thousandth of a percent of what I feel.' Shelly counts in minutes. 608,000 minutes that he's in captivity. Shelly, we're with you, bring these hostages home!"
The Globes Israel Business Conference is held in collaboration with Bank Hapoalim and The Phoenix Holdings, and is sponsored by El Al, Bezeq, Nespresso, Wolt, Dell, the Israel Medical Association, Energean, the Jewish National Fund, BlackRock, Playtika, Meta, Strauss Group, BAZAN Group, and 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 of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.