For years its cash-torching ways went unchallenged, thanks to the reality-distorting powers of its flamboyant founder, Adam Neumann, who succeeded in convincing investors, most notably SoftBank, that it was not an office-rental business but a zippy tech firm on a mission to “elevate the world’s consciousness”. t the height of the silliness in early 2019, in the lead-up to an initial public offering (ipo), the company was valued at $47bn. The ipo was shelved, and Mr Neumann was offered $1.7bn to leave. Sandeep Mathrani, a real-estate veteran brought in to run the company, did his best to right the ship by cutting costs and renegotiating leases. In 2021 he succeeded in listing the firm through a special-purpose acquisition company, at a valuation of $9bn. Now that Property empires are crumbling on both sides of the Atlantic, is the real estate industry standing against gravity ?
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