Review: Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork

Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork by Reeves Wiedeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this a year or so ago, but, after watching WeCrashed, I wanted to read it again. I was annoyed at how Omega the series made Miguel out to be, so I wanted to get a refresher and see how the book felt after the series. 

I have to say, obviously the series changed many points, but it got the overall feel of most people pretty much right (Miguel excepted, and I assume Elishia Kennedy was supposed to be Julie Rice, and there too many points were changed). So sort of like Boardwalk empire in that sense. 

Still, after having read it again, I'm more amazed at how everyone talks about how Adam duped so many people into following him, but hardly anyone seems to care that he took so much money out of the company, and leased office space to the company, and even bought the copyright to WeWork and sold it to the company for 5.9 million. How is any of this legal, let alone how did he remain in the company after this?? 

Original review:

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After having read about Uber and Airbnb (The Upstarts), it was fascinating to read this book. There were many instances of deja vu, but all in all this was much more intense and crazy. 

The author did an excellent job in documenting all the facts and people, places and companies involved, at times even going through daily schedules of events from years ago. He obviously did his homework. 

On the other hand, you get the impression that he set out with a certain goal in mind (to show how ridiculous the whole situation was), and at times it makes him seem a bit biased. I will also admit, however, that there was a certain amount of schadenfreude on my part when reading as well. Adam (and Rebekah) just seem to be like those ultra-privileged celebrities who have lost all touch and deserve some sort of comeuppance. Although to be fair, if Masayoshi Son hadn't invested that much in the company it probably would have never gotten so bad (as the author mentions toward the end). 

Regardless, an excellent foray into what happened at wework. I heard there is a Hulu documentary out now, but I feel like it cannot go as much into depth as this book did.

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