WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann says the company’s downfall began during a brief car ride with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. In an interview recorded for The Diary of a CEO podcast, Neumann describes a roughly half-hour ride in 2016 as the point when his “ego took over.” He also says that after returning to WeWork headquarters following SoftBank’s multibillion-dollar offer, he “forgot what we were all about,” framing his change in mindset as a trigger for events that followed.
Neumann ties the shift to SoftBank’s proposal, saying Son’s offer encouraged him to focus more on money. One outlet reports that the deal was described as a $4.2 billion investment offer, which Neumann portrays as contributing to a pattern of decision-making he later questioned. Both outlets also note that he discusses later milestones tied to WeWork’s collapse, including its failed IPO and the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Neumann also mentions his current real estate venture, Flow, as part of the broader retrospective.
While the outlets agree on Neumann’s core claim—linking the start of WeWork’s trouble to that car ride and mindset—Fortune and Times of India differ mainly in how they present specific details and framing from his account.
