While Adam became synonymous with WeWork's downfall, less has been written about his wife of eleven years and equally ambitious business partner, the 5-foot-9, thin-pin, dark-maned Rebekah Neumann., Rebekah was, according to some insiders, an unpredictable and unmistakable presence in the organization.
"She spotted the potential in Adam and channeled it in a way that made him incredibly successful," the former executive said. "Adam was sort of wayward before, a failed entrepreneur slash party boy. Whatever it was she saw in him was incredibly productive. Arguably, she harnessed it to such a degree that it went too far."Before WeWork, Rebekah Neumann had a number of professions, from a trader at Smith Barney to a yoga instructor to acting.
Acting may have come naturally to Rebekah, who, until her 2008 marriage, was Rebekah Paltrow, a first cousin of the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. A college source said Rebekah was quick to tout the connection. "She could be captivating and had the capacity to be very sweet and funny when she wanted to be," the college source said. "You were either someone she thought was worth her time or someone she didn't. And if she deemed you worthy, she could be a lot of fun."
The former executive said that despite Rebekah's plans to save the rainforest, she lavished in the billionaire lifestyle, hobnobbing with celebrities such as Lucy Liu, Jessica Seinfeld, and Karlie Kloss, and even flying her hairdresser to London for the company's 2018 summer camp. "We saw her infrequently in the first few offices, and only as Adam's wife," said a former community manager. "I don't think anyone even knew she invested in it."Sacks said they even used an unrenovated portion of WeWork SoHo as a a "warehouse/performance/"She was always starting little micro things," said the former community manager.
While she might have been content behind the scenes at one point, a media source who worked with the Neumanns before the IPO said Rebekah was "very focused" on what her title would be in the offering prospectus, or S-1 documents, and it "being deserved and appropriate." Rebekah's style and eccentricities grated on some of those who worked with her. Because of preference for all-white technology, for example, staffers disassembled the landline phone on her desk, painted it white, and rebuilt it, as"She would be tyrannical in the sense of making extraordinary demands," according to the former executive, who said Rebekah was preoccupied with looking good on Instagram.
"She is very 'Steve Jobs' in that she can see how this person is not right for the company and get rid of them," said the WeWork insider. "It was a very scary thing."In an email to Business Insider, Mildenhall expressed concerns that Rebekah's influence was too easily dismissed. A former employee says she would often veto Adam's more far-fetched ideas. "Also when you needed to get things to him or were having a tough time getting him to focus, she could get it done," said the former employee. "She was his gatekeeper." during a late-night celebration — Rebekah's protective instincts could sometimes run to extremes, according to sources.
In another blunder, a former engineer recalls the collective raised eyebrow after Rebekah announced she was launching WeGrow in 2017 because she couldn't find suitable education options for her five children. Niva Benzino, who currently has two children at WeGrow, says a number of parents were angered when Rebekah mandated that nannies doing pick-up were not allowed to linger in the school's luxe lounge, complete with flavored water and surfer Laird Hamilton's organic coffee.
"The students would grow the vegetables and sell them and then donate the money somewhere. I thought WeGrow was a dream and when I met Rebekah, I realized how real it was and how she really meant what she was saying," said Fahima. "A lot of people thought it was a distraction [from the greater company's goals]," said the former employee.A genuine mission clouded by entitlement
SAI Can she teach us how to bilk gullible investors out of billions of dollars, mess up the lives of thousands of employees, make out like a bandit and take zero responsibility whatsoever?
techinsider Is this a serious tweet or a slap in the face? Touting this woman when WeWork is a disaster?
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