The meteoric rise and fall of coworking company WeWork has been closely watched by those in the real estate industry for years, but a new limited series starring Academy Award-winning actors Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway brings the power of Hollywood to the saga.
As a reporter for CoStar News, I caught the world premiere of "WeCrashed" online while covering the SXSW film, tech and music festival before the first three episodes landed on Apple TV+ Friday. I saw the first episode, called "This Is Where It Begins," with two watch buddies: my 9-month-old son Luca and my husband, both of whom weren't entirely interested in the subject matter. Don't worry, I plan to have more experienced watch pals who can share real estate insights during future recaps of the eight-episode series. And spoiler alert: Stop reading here if you want to form your own opinion of the series.
Leto stars as Adam Neumann, who co-founded WeWork in New York City in 2010 and grew it into a global powerhouse with a valuation of $47 billion under the notion it could be a high-tech unicorn, all before being ousted by the board in 2019. Leto portrays Neumann as an eccentric businessman who has a tough time remembering to wear a shirt or put on shoes as board members decide his fate. Flashbacks from 2006 show Neumann's business ventures before WeWork, pitching products such as baby clothing with kneepads and a women's shoe with a collapsible heel.
The series also offers a rare peek into Neumann's unlikely romance with Rebekah Paltrow, played by Hathaway, and shows how he was 45 minutes late to their first date. Paltrow, who later ends up marrying Neumann, happens to be actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow's cousin, which just adds to the story's mystique.
Here are some key takeaways from episode one:
- Neumann is quite the salesman. I'm not sure how he talked Rebekah into a second date. In my prior life as a singleton, I don't think I'd be as forgiving to a man who nearly stood me up for a drink. What can I say? He seems to have a way with words, convincing the first members of WeWork to sign on the dotted line to lease space in an aging industrial building with a sales pitch involving cocoa beans. Who doesn't love chocolate?
- Architects are paid how much? My husband is not in the real estate industry — he's a general manager of an indoor and outdoor sports venue — but he was surprised to learn one of WeWork's co-founders, architect Miguel McKelvey, only makes $18 an hour. Granted, that was his supposed pay in 2010, but is that accurate?
- The baby in "WeCrashed" steals the show (at least for my 9-month-old). Luca doesn't always watch television, but when he does, he prefers "Wheels on the Bus" with some dancing from his parents. Two things resonated with Luca: The cool SXSW graphics ahead of the "WeCrashed" preview and Neumann begging a baby to crawl to show off one of the many consumer products he invented. I'm sure if Luca could speak, he'd laugh and say, "That's not how you get a baby to crawl!" Sadly, without the baby having more than a couple of scenes, Luca was no longer interested in the episode and this mommy had to put the baby tunes back on.
- If you believe it, it's real, right? Before WeWork was valued as a tech company by some of the biggest investors in the world, Neumann put a price tag on his business for an investor that wasn't based on anything but belief. While I admire his wife Rebekah, a yoga teacher, for offering advice that could only bolster someone's self-worth, Neumann's decision to take business advice from a yoga teacher seems a little ill-advised. That being said, it seemed to work — at the time.
- People are starving for experience. As part of Neumann's sales pitch to his first member in the episode, he tapped into a worker's hunger for experience that goes beyond sitting at a desk all day. He pitched WeWork as a place to connect with your next business partner or significant other, a place to share ideas. That human connection served as the basis for WeWork and is something coworking providers throughout the globe want to offer their members. That was before the pandemic. Now, at least in Dallas, I've seen a pent-up demand being unleashed in the city, with coffee shops and restaurants once again filled to capacity and networking events crowded with executives eager to shake a hand. Even if Neumann was just giving a sales pitch, it hit a nerve that doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.
Check back with CoStar News next week for a WeWatched "WeCrashed" review on episode two with the help of an industry expert.