According to a Wall Street Journal report, We Company (Previously known as WeWork) CEO Adam Neumann reportedly made millions of dollars by renting office space in buildings that he partially owns back to the company. Last year We Company reportedly disclosed that it paid $12 million in rent between 2016 and 2017 to buildings “partially owned by officers” of WeWork.
These transactions were disclosed in the company prospectus documents which was filed as part of its $700 million bond sale in April 2018. According to the disclosure, We Company’s total future rents on these properties (partially owned by CEO Adam Neumann) are $110.8 million, as of December 2017. We Company has said that these deals are disclosed to investors after being approved by the board and an independent committee.
According to WSJ, 88 University Place isn’t the only place where Neumann has invested. Neumann also personally invested in properties in San Jose that are either currently leased to We Company as a tenant or are earmarked for such a purpose.
After the news came out, a We company spokesperson said “We Company has a review process in place for related party transactions. Those transactions are reviewed and approved by the board, and they are disclosed to investors.”
Adam Neumann’s personal fortune is pegged at $4.1 billion by Forbes. We Company was valued at $47 billion by its largest investor, SoftBank Group. Following WeWork rebranding itself as The We Company, SoftBank Group committed another $2 billion to the company after walking back an initial $16 billion planned investment.
