Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting observation, but a) events of the last 10 years are documented at an exponentially higher rate and resolution than events of the 17th century, and b) this list has lots of events which hardly raise to the level of the large scale revolutions of the 17th century, aaand c) none of these events are taking place in global centers of wealth and power. Today's elites are without a doubt more protected than the…
Re global centers - is it because elites are better protected, or because there are fewer people willing to die on barricades? Vast majority of Americans have a decent life today (eg not starving, not being exploited and treated like slaves by the elites), unlike the vast majority of population in the 17th century in Europe.
WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
241–250 of 291 posts
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#242Hypothesis: Events like this are the modern moral equivalent of the giant, gaudy, gilt-encrusted palaces of the 17th century. Economic disparity has reached a point where those at the top end literally have more money than they know what to do with and are increasingly spending it on stupider and stupider things out of some perceived need to do something .
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t really see why it’s his fault investors over valued his company — he believed in his own spin and was phenomenally successful at building a large, real business. This was not like Theranos where he was straight up lying about a product working — anyone could analyze the business based on the fundamentals, and investors seemed ever willing to invest at high valuations. The self dealing was reprehensible and ev…
>"he believed in his own spin and was phenomenally successful at building a large, real business.' How was he "phenomenally successful" if the company needed an emergency bailout because they were about to run out of cash?
He walked away with $1.7 billion.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t really see why it’s his fault investors over valued his company — he believed in his own spin and was phenomenally successful at building a large, real business. This was not like Theranos where he was straight up lying about a product working — anyone could analyze the business based on the fundamentals, and investors seemed ever willing to invest at high valuations. The self dealing was reprehensible and ev…
> ...he believed in his own spin and was phenomenally successful at building a large, real business. Successful at building a large, real business selling $10 bills for $8. It's a dreadful business, they lose money hand over fist with no path to stopping the bleeding. For a while now, any company who could claim to be a "tech" company like WeWork (an objectively real estate company) did was able to raise on terms tha…
The classic "We lose money on every sale, but make it up in volume" approach.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
Re global centers - is it because elites are better protected, or because there are fewer people willing to die on barricades? Vast majority of Americans have a decent life today (eg not starving, not being exploited and treated like slaves by the elites), unlike the vast majority of population in the 17th century in Europe.
I mean, both. But there are plenty of self proclaimed radicals in America who claim they'd be willing to die on the barricades, but a) there's no central set of barricades upon which to die, even in the global "centers" and b) the ones that do exist are way too well protected. Remember Occupy Wall St? That was essentially an attempt to besiege (albeit non-violently) the financial power centers, but it was easily swat…
Re protection: it’s only good if those who are supposed to protect you are on your side.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#246Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
> layoffs aren’t as destructive as they used to be. Student loan debt cannot be discharged. Unsecured personal debt is at all-time highs. Nearly half of Americans have less than $1000 in savings. You are wrong.
> Unsecured personal debt is at all-time highs. > Nearly half of Americans have less than $1000 in savings. Those both sound like bad financial planning. Pumping more money into the equation won't solve that.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#248If I'm Neumann, I'm taking 200-250 million dollars of my 1.7 billion in winnings and giving it away to the laid off employees (about 90k each). Imagine the positive press you could drum up about yourself! All while keeping 1.5 billion dollars!
The more likely outcome is that he's now focused on protecting that nine figure status as if his life depended on it.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
The investors. If you give a loose cannon many billions of dollars, who is at fault? But yes, normal employees are paying the price here.
The investors also paid a hefty price. The only person getting out of this scot-free is Adam.
Re: WeWork lays off 2,400 employees
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
Managing 800 physical office locations? That’s not really that many people per location.
Do they seriously have employees at each? I assumed it was either a franchise or contractor thing. Rare for a tech company to actually hire people directly for that sort of thing.