HOT DOCS 2021 | "WeWork: Or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn" Makes and Breaks Our Perception Of Adam Neumann

String enough good-sounding words and buzz-worthy phrases together, and you can sell anything. This is what Adam Neumann seemed to understand when he started WeWork, and as we see in WeWork: Or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, he was really good at convincing people what he wanted them to believe. Director Jed Rothstein covers the rise and fall of this co-living, co-working, and space sharing phenomenon in a captiavting manner as he exposes the true nature of what WeWork was about under Neumann and shares the stories of the people who were most impacted along the way.

WeWork follows every beat of the rise of the company and its philosophies beginning in the early 2010’s. With insight from former WeWork employees, reporters, and industry professionals, the documentary dives deep into why so many people bought into Neumann vision during this time of extreme “growth” for the company. But not everything is as it seems with the functionality of the company, and as the title suggests, WeWork set itself up for disastrous failure, and the downfall unveils the flaws in the promoted philosophies of Adam Neumann.

It’s true, Adam Neumann is a very charismatic individual. With every public appearance he makes throughout WeWork, he exudes confidence, charm, and well worded explanations for the vision he has with everything “We”. In theory, what he’s selling is very attractive: community, sense of belonging, and togetherness. The foundation of WeWork seems to be what many startups in this tech-saturated era aspire to build their business on.

But WeWork exposes the series of business mismanagements and falsehoods with riveting effect. It's not hard to sense flashes of Billy McFarland and Fyre Festival in how this charismatic and convencing Neumann was as he won over investors and employees with cool, fun ideas and imaginary value. But the testimony provided by those most associated with the WeWork organization illustrate how problematic the company was - the epitome of how hindsight is 20/20 with each revelation about the truth of WeWork making the film more and more revelating.

The real shame in the story is that the people who believed most in Neumann's vision were the ones who paid the price for his deception. It’s the ultimate story of faking it til you make it. Adam Neumann was phenomenal at faking it. He just wasn’t as successful at making it, and the rise and fall of this “unicorn” is a special beast to witness.

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Available to stream for Hulu subscribers in the United States

MoviesThomas Stoneham-JudgeMay 2, 2021wework, Or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, Adam Neumann, jed rothstein, Hot Docs 2021Comment