Adam Neumann is a genius at finding ways to increase his net worth as founder of a VC backed company. [0] WeWork’s CEO Makes Millions as Landlord to WeWork - https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2019/01/16/wework-c...
WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
81–90 of 138 posts
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's 6 million real dollars.
I can imagine he could sell 6 mil. in stock without damaging the price.
It also screams that you ought to be closely auditing expenses from every member of the cxo team.
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#83WeWork claims 3,7 million m2 office space and a 47 billion USD "valuation", or 12 700 USD/m2.
So the valuation of WeWork per square metre they rent, is about the same as the cost of One WTC per square metre ...
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519...
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#84Where is this guy getting all this money to pocket it himself?
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#85According to Wikipedia One WTC cost 3,9 billion USD to build. It's 325,279 m2 floor area, or 12 000 USD/m2. WeWork claims 3,7 million m2 office space and a 47 billion USD "valuation", or 12 700 USD/m2. So the valuation of WeWork per square metre they rent , is about the same as the cost of One WTC per square metre ... https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519...
That doesn't include land value, does it? A significant chunk of the lease is to pay for the land value.
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#86Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#87According to Wikipedia One WTC cost 3,9 billion USD to build. It's 325,279 m2 floor area, or 12 000 USD/m2. WeWork claims 3,7 million m2 office space and a 47 billion USD "valuation", or 12 700 USD/m2. So the valuation of WeWork per square metre they rent , is about the same as the cost of One WTC per square metre ... https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519...
If there is anything the Internet has shown, it is (unfortunately, IMO) that all the money is to be made in marketing, not in actually building or selling things. I mean, Google absolutely rakes it in with AdWords, while all the businesses actually buying AdWords to sell real products often lose money (Mary Meeker's latest report showed how customer acquisition costs are starting to exceed the lifetime value of customers!!)
Thus, in and of itself, I don't find it odd that a marketing and management company like WeWork is worth more than the products they rent.
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#88If even 10% of all McDonald's offered high speed wifi, accessible power outlets, and maybe some nice desks, I feel they would destroy this company.
However, in general, those don't really substitute for an office. Even an open floor plan office like WeWork mostly is.
Yes, at the margins, if someone doesn't really need an office, WeWork or its competitors are sort of a luxury that can be done without. But if someone wants to/has to work outside of their home, possibly with co-workers, have meetings in conference rooms from time to time, etc., the local Starbucks is probably not going to cut it.
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#89According to Wikipedia One WTC cost 3,9 billion USD to build. It's 325,279 m2 floor area, or 12 000 USD/m2. WeWork claims 3,7 million m2 office space and a 47 billion USD "valuation", or 12 700 USD/m2. So the valuation of WeWork per square metre they rent , is about the same as the cost of One WTC per square metre ... https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1533523/000119312519...
Re: WeWork CEO gives back $5.9M from 'We' trademark after criticism
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks very much for posting that, was very informative. My favorite tidbit was when Molly Wood was saying that she heard from a financial analysis firm that specializes in obfuscation that this was the most unclear S1 they had ever seen in terms of hiding basic financial metrics, and the other guest said he couldn't even figure out what the GAAP margin was after reading the S1. That to me is more damning than any ot…
For those curious, the other guest was Alex Wilhelm, a regular financial reporter of startups and their S1s. He's pretty well-equipped to dig into them.