User Reviews

SXSW 2021 Greetings again from the darkness. It's quite possible that many scams originally begin with someone's good intentions. However it's just as likely, and maybe even more so, that many scams begin with only the intention of raking in millions or billions for the founder. The dream of becoming the next Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Mark Zuckerberg is simply too enticing for some. Filmmaker Jed Rothstein profiles the rise and fall of WeWork, or more accurately, its charismatic commander, Adam Neumann.

Offering a nice overview for those unfamiliar, the film uses multiple clips of Neumann speaking so that we get a real feel for how so many fell under his spell. Neumann was an immigrant from Israel, and certainly bought into the ideal of living the American Dream. Labeled a visionary, and always full of ideas, Neumann co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey. They were known affectionately as Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside, respectively, due to McKelvey's focus on operations and infrastructure and Neumann's ability as a salesman and the (and hair) of the company.

The idea of co-working space was not new, but it had never been pitched or marketed the way that Neumann did. He appealed to the rebellious nature of millennials, who couldn't picture themselves in the traditional corporate office environment of the establishment. Neumann capitalized on their FOMO, and rammed home the message of "Do what you love." He preached to the choir with his promise of the next revolution being the "We revolution."

Journalists from Forbes, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal are interviewed, as are former We staff members and clients. Mr. Rothstein does a nice job of tracking the progression of the company via graphics showing valuation each year beginning with a few million in 2012 through a peak of $47 billion in 2018. He also explores how, within a 6 week period, the company went from that peak to near bankrupt.

A business model based on "community" with the goal of changing the way people work and live, turns out to be smoke and mirrors if legitimate business practices aren't followed. That's not to say his communal approach doesn't work, but as so often happens, greed and the lust for power, create the downfall. Rothstein points out that the company's own S-1 filed prior to the planned IPO was the red flag that had previously gone undetected.

This is as much a psychological study of Neumann as it is a business case study. Every time Neumann bristled at being called a "real estate company", we should have known. With his cash infusion from Japan's SoftBank still not leading to traditional profitability, we should have known. When his bizarre actress wife, Rebekah, became more involved with decisions and publicity, we should have known. Hindsight is crystal clear, and by the end, we realize Neumann has more in common with the notorious Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos than with Steve Jobs. The Jesus Complex seems obvious, but as humans we want so much to believe the words of an idealist ... especially a cool one. There is a lot to unpack in this documentary, and it's worth it - even if it helps us learn our lesson yet again.

I would argue that the saddest part about WeWork are not the hyped employees who got heartbroken and ripped off. It's that CEO Adam Neumann recklessly besmirched his own beautiful, heartfelt vision and also tarnished how the world will perceive anyone else trying to change the world.

I believe he was honestly trying to make his vision come to life. Because even a pro narcissist manipulator can only fool so many people before they smell he's not ALL IN on what he's selling. Neumann was. But at some point, probably when the big bucks started coming in, he started prioritising himself over his vision. Unbeknownst to him, that's when, how and why he killed WeWork.

Strangely enough, what the world clearly needed was Adam Neumann destroying his beautiful concept WeWork by rushing its expansion and wasting time faking profitability when he should have been investing that time into finding sustainable financial solutions. I think we also needed the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos deception, too.

From the ashes of their irresponsible vanity better, more accountable leaders will emerge. Thanks to Adam Neumann, the world will now tolerate fewer and fewer Adam Neumanns and call them on their BS quicker and with more ferocity.

Because what we really, truly need is a deeply embedded accountability in our judicial system so that the Adam Neumanns of the world DO NOT get to have a lavish pay day after wreaking havoc on so many lives but instead serve time in a prison.

A few years ago while traveling around Southern California, I noticed the WeWork sign popping up on buildings. At first, I thought it was an employment agency moving in, then I was told that it was floors of suites for rent. I thought that was great because when I was in College, I had heard of "Fegen Suites". Those were the first in floors of offices Lawyers/Attorneys and Government rented.

Fegen Suites shared a common reception area (usually two or three receptionists behind a nice large desk), a few folks in another room answering their phones and taking messages if they wanted (They could have the phones ring through to them if they chose) and could share an administrative area with copy machines, computers, etc. On that floor. It had conference rooms. It was a cost saving measure for young lawyers/attorneys starting out.

These grew popular as top entertainment companies and government offices started using them for "extra office space". Then new Production Companies were using them for their offices, and many small businesses started to rent them, all for the same reason. They did have 'top' real estate salespeople/companies to help rent these suites, and they were consistently full -- even a wait lists. That's what led me to believe that's what WeWork sounded like, but possibly now have been updated for the digital generation of those just starting out.

Boy was I wrong!

I watched this documentary, and it was like watching a horror show on so many levels! I had no idea WeWork was like this at all! The documentary takes you through the two founders Neumann and Miguel, but centering mostly on Neumann and his sales techniques into having young people buy into this WeWork experience. It came across like a Real Estate Cult with Neumann at the head. I had never seen anything in real estate quite like this (and I saw the beginning of house flipping!! Guys, it didn't start as legit as the shows now show.)

This "salesman", Neumann seemed to cultivate a mesh between a pyramid scheme and a cult where he and his wife (who did a few movies and was related to Gwyneth Paltrow - big whoop!) conned banks out of now millions off the sweat of wide-eyed, well meaning young people who fell for his con and did all the work while he took all the glory. What a racket, as as with all rackets this plummeted fast.

The documentary does a good job of telling the tale of WeWork through employee and others interviews, spots of Neumann's ego appearances on programs and films of employee camps, etc. But Neumann and his wife "did not participate in the making of the documentary". Why should they? What can they say to make any real sense out of this? I've seen just about enough to see why WeWork fell so quickly from grace. However, Neumann and his wife will still walk away with a big payday and according to the documentary have already set their sights on something new.

Throughout watching all i kept thinking was how would Tommy Wiseau rent office space? And what kind of summer camp would he run? And what would his S1 look like?

Overall I thought this was well done. It's shocking how a company can grow to a giant but is made of fluff. I enjoyed everything except the end. It seemed like they had no idea how to end it and decided to do something with masks? Just strange.

A company I didn't know that existed, ran by a guy who was believed to be Jesus Christ. WeWork is a good concept. It just needs to be executed properly.

It really is like watching the teranos documentary all over again. Or the Fyre Festival doc. Or the OTHER Fryre Festival doc. Same old story: a bunch of people buy into a con and in the end, you're shown that if you're a white male, there aren't really consequences for burning people. This is the American Dream.... if you're the right *kind* of person.

You'd be infuriated if you watched this 20 years ago. Maybe even 10 years ago. But twhat this movie shows us is so commonplace now that it doesn't really mean anything.

It's hard to write this review without using cliches such as 'millennials are the new/improved boomers' but I'll give it a go.

When an entire generation is so willing to buy into a hivemind idea such as WeWorks, it says more about the society we live in rather than the generation, itself.

That being said, charismatic leaders seem to emerge today with so many bells and whistles that it's hard to denounce their likable aspects without being castigated from society. Despite ample evidence to support the thesis, many threw caution to the wind to prop up this snake oil salesman (and his incredibly insufferable wife) for the 'greater good'- despite all evidence to the contrary.

What's most appalling is, his lack of responsibility and his ability to leap from this unscathed- with millions upon millions of dollars and untold stock options, with absolutely no reasonable accountability on his behalf.

At what point does society start to value the whistleblowers who are sounding the alarms well ahead of the catastrophic events that lead to inevitable destruction? When we have untold resources to explore and contradict even the most enigmatic megalomaniac, and not a single journalist with esteemed credentials will finally stand against the wave of backlash to say 'enough is enough, we're building a hero out of a pile of dung!'

Society created this monster, and far too many people went willingly down his path to sing 'KUMBAYAH!' but lacked, I don't know, confidence I guess?, to ask reasonable questions that likely lead to this nutjob being unemployed.

What this documentary shows us is a whole gaggle of people who suspected a fraud, but couldn't admit to themselves (or others) what he truly was, and even more people far too naive and inexperienced to know that this was a scam of immeasurable proportions.

We're so focused on teaching college students the ins and outs of virtues and justice that we're neglecting to teach rational and cognitive skills. As well as parents so willing to perform mental gymnastics in order to appease these little egomaniacs, that there's no ability to discern right/wrong or decent/immoral on their own.

A solid documentary that points out these fatal flaws we've inflicted on an entire generation- now only if we are able to glean the necessary information to affect real change.

I knew nothing about WeWork and don't really follow financial news, but still found the documentary interesting. It was well edited with the use of many interviews and numerous pieces of archival news reports. Can be a little boring if you don't care about the financial markets and stories from that industry.

This is an excellent documentary about why WE (worldwide) are in the MESS that WE have created, and why WE are unlikely to get out of it before it gets much, much worse. It's who WE are, as humans. It's how We Work. (Puns intended and oh so appropriate.)

Con men like WeWork's consummate con artist Adam Neumann (and his equally nefarious "new age" hippy - dippy wife Rebekah Newmann) have always been with us. They are found in every century, in every country, in every culture, pushing their impossible plastic banana good-time rock and role promises, NEVER delivering.

They are con artists like the 20th century's Charles Ponzi, who's name is synonymous with the corporate unicornery (uniconery?) found at WeWork, detailed in this documentary. They are the 19th century's Joseph Smith who's ludicrously anachronistic "visions" created an entire religion that has persisted for almost 200 years, at one time having millions of "followers", now amazing wealth headed toward a trillion dollars. They are Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes (another pathetic "Steve Jobs" wannabe) raking in billions before bursting the bubble, now richly deserving a long prison sentence. They are the intergenerational "ponzi" schemes peddled by 21st century politicians promising solutions to problems that can't (or won't) be solved, such as poverty, racial tensions, and never ending climate change, by robbing "Peter" to pay "Paul."

They all have one thing in common. They are charismatic malarkey peddlers. The current helpless and hapless White House occupant infamously promised "no malarkey", and now delivers nothing but. You can't con an honest man (or culture, or follower). When you take money from "Peter" to pay "Paul", you can ALWAYS count on Paul's help. That's the eternal message of this film.

What a @#$% was the founder A combo of Henry Ford and Heinrich himmler with the utopian self serving vision.

Capitalised on young easily influenced followers and greedy landlords and a stupid vc.

I love these peeks into the top 1% and how they go there. If there's one thing all the CEO/founders of all these companies have in common is that they are all assholes. I guess you have to be able to turn off empathy to exploit your workers. Spoiler, he gets a $1.7 BILLION payout on the end. Did he do anything wrong? Legally, looks like not. Morally, 100%

This should have been a 30-minute documentary. WAY too much time was used to talk about the WeWork atmosphere and business, over an hour. And only a few minutes about the downfall. In fact the two most disturbing things Adam Neumann did as CEO of WeWork (buying the buildings personally and leasing them to WeWork, and withdrawing 700 million USD right before and IPO) was mentioned for a total of 2 seconds! Like wtf.

If you liked docs like "Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room" or the Fyre Festival doc (particularly the Hulu one) you're going to love this.

Early on in the movie you can just *sense* that something is amiss, which is hilariously said out loud to an employee by a security guard at one of their retreats. Or maybe it's the Billy McFarland-like public persona that Adam Neumann eerily possesses. Like with Fyre Festival, Neumann sold his idea as much, if not more as a *lifestyle* to both the public and employees (who, like the innocent, well-meaning people at Fyre, get completely screwed in the end).

The difference being that WeWork actually had a viable product that was very successful until they wildly over-expanded. There's even a bizarre celebrity wingman who acts as Neumann's public wingman much like Ja Rule with McFarland.

Even creepier is how Neumann's wife slowly begins to worm her way into the company management, in very "Spinal Tap"-ish style.

It's basically a disaster movie in the classic sense, where company supposedly providing utopia to clients and employees seems to have no limit for growth and success until the long-ticking time bomb goes off (much like Enron).

And like with Enron, at first the business media just ate write out of Neumann's hand, as he appeared on many networks pegged as a genius who had basically created the next Uber, or AirBnB. Which he kind of did, until... I won't spoil exactly what happened.

Another disaster where you wonder why nobody saw this coming. And like it always does, yeah: some did.

Not the first time Hulu fails to think things through. The documentary -especially in the beginning- is simply boring. They spent an inordinate amount of time to describe the atmosphere at WeWork. And so little time in describing the intricate details of the downfall or the buildup to the downfall (more importantly).

It's interesting to see it all unfold. But I feel like it could have been cut shorter and more fast paced. It's spending too long talking about the success of it and not much juicy content.

It's like the director didn't know what point to make. A lot of it was just anecdotes about the culture. Almost nothing about how they gained or lost money. Just people talking about how they liked or didn't like madam.

What's worst, is so many young adults whining and crying about Adam letting them down by not changing the world. Give me a break. It's a start up. Start ups fail.

What a fluff documentary for a fluff company the laboriously-titled "WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn" is. All the financial summarization here--the stupid business plan of pretending boring interior decorating for businesses a transformational tech company, and, of course, the inevitable fraud that funnels the money up top--is less telling than The Economist articles I barely recall skimming through during WeWork's IPO fiasco. I was less informed coming in to the doc about the New Age cultish atmosphere at the company, but it figures.

The most egregious aspect of this documentary is that it spends a lot of time--too much on too little, really--mocking this corporate or start-up culture and its messianic tech-ish CEO figure and the subsequent disillusionment of his employees, but then ends with the same sort of BS montage of irrelevant imagery seen in WeWork propaganda videos while one of those former employees pontificates the same nonsense about "community" that Adam Neumann had been lying about for years. Is that supposed to be ironic, or did "we" learn nothing? This bit of obliviousness is, then, followed by a montage of interviewees putting on and removing masks and some trite comments about the pandemic isolating us. Thanks for continuing to state the obvious, I guess.

I suppose one could do worse for an overview of the mismanaged and stupidly-conceived WeWork, and at least we get to see what tools talk-show hosts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashton Kutcher can be, but the documentary doesn't question, let alone challenge, any of the flaws of this particular brand of corporate capitalism, or their cultures, or the obsession at large with start-ups and any CEO with a glow of supposed tech wizardry about him. I suppose I probably should've figured from its full title, though, that this would be nothing more than a topical piece of trendy journalism--something with more time and maybe the slightest of more insight than a Wall Street Journal or Forbes Magazine article--and, indeed, their go-to interviewee on business matter works for Forbes. The result, however, despite the interviews also including former employees, is that its assumed audience is the type of rich investors who chase such "unicorns." If ever a subject was in need of more of an eat-the-rich mentality, this is it. For most people, unicorns aren't real.

This is a story about how a charismatic leader launched a company into the stratosphere, but then faced struggles; however, that is nothing new in American business. The charismatic founder/leaders are rarely the same people who are capable to taking the company to the next phase. Same goes with WeWork. What makes this documentary mediocre at best is that it was obviously spun in a way to make Adam Neumann look bad, weird, or crazy. Is he different than most people? Yeah, but I am not sure I am buying the narrative that this documentary was trying to create. The complaints from disgruntled employees are similar things that you would hear from just about anybody who has spent anytime in Corporate America, especially in a fast growing investor driven start-up. I want to see Adam's side of the story now.

Overall it's not a poorly done documentary but it is certainly brief and boring. There just really wasn't much of a story line curve worth paying attention to.

I was married to someone who was a great salesman trying to start a business. We made a great plan. He was great at making sales but he saw success as the amount of sales he made not the actual net profit of the business which is I think very common in entrepreneurial personalities. I ran the administrative side of the business and many times tried to explain to him many times that it doesn't matter if you had half a million dollars in sales if at the end of the day you spent more than you made. He kept selling to people who I had put on COD because they hadn't paid their accounts. Also, growing to fast is a recipe for disaster because if you have a ton of product on the shelf you have to pay for it when the invoice comes and you haven't sold it. Great talkers are often not great businessman even though they can convince people that they are until the ish hits the fan. Next thing you know Adam will start his own arm of Scientology or run for President. When people are selling you happiness or saying they are going to make the world a better place for everyone read everything carefully before you sign on the dotted line.

I watched most of this show shaking my head (thinking - SERIOUSLY!????) waiting for the sheep like followers of this man and his wife to wake up, but it didn't happen (WTF!)

His growth obsession reminded me of some of the women you see who have implants WAaay too big for their frame and you just think FAKE...WHY....what were you thinking! ???????

The scene with the glass in his office tells yo all you need to know...

I won't even comment on his wife's obsession with amounting to something in her own right as I will no doubt offend to many people...

In short, it's an interesting show based on true events (the truth can be stranger than fiction) but like others have already said, it's too long, but finishes way too quickly at the same time.

I can't knock this couple, they're billionares FFS; they're the epitome of daring to dream (which we could all bebefit from in small doses) it's just these guys don't seem to have consciences about who they leave in their wakes achieving said dreams constantly spouting We, we, we when it's really just... "ME"