Adam Neumann and wife Rebekah Paltrow Planning New Company Inspired by Coronavirus Chaos
But can he ever overcome his bad reputation.
(Hulu Promo Pic)
WeWork founder Adam Neumann is plotting yet another comeback together with his wife Rebekah Paltrow Neumann. According to the NY Post, the couple has plans to make a big splash in the post Covid-19 world.
Someone with inside information told the paper that “It involves what happened in the world because of the pandemic. He’s got big plans and he’s waiting for the right time to announce them.” But no specifics were given about Neumann’s plans.
Last fall Adam Neumann revealed his return to the real estate world with a $30 million investment in resident management app Alfred Club. And his Selina hotels & partners teamed with Israeli E-scooter platform LEO. But neither of these businesses has anything to do with the Coronavirus. And it is not clear if Neumann will ever be taken seriously again after what he did at WeWork.
In 2019, Neumann was forced out of WeWork, the company which he founded in 2010. After a meteoric rise the entrepreneur was brought down after allegations of serious drug use and sexual improprieties were made. WeWork was forced to deal with sexual harassment suits. It delayed its planned IPO and laid off many workers.
And the new Hulu documentary “WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of A $47 Billion Unicorn” paints a very dim picture of Adam Neumann. It also makes his wife seem like a Lady Macbeth figure.
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Rebekah Paltrow, known as Rebi to her friends (possibly an inside joke as a Hasidic rabbi is called rebi), is the first cousin of Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow. She tried an acting career herself once, but only had bit parts in a few films and produced a few small movies too.
Rebekah Paltrwo Neumann Hulu
Her father Bob, like Gwyneth’s father Bruce, came from a long line of rabbis and made a small fortune from the junk mail printer-distributor company which he founded called North American Communications. Her mother Evelyn’s family made a fortune from the lingerie company Gelmart.
She grew up rubbing elbows with the rich and famous: her family had a home in Martha’s Vineyard, a winter house in Vail, Colorado and an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach.
A new profile in Cosmopolitan explains that Rebekah Paltrow was so influential over her husband, Neumann, during the creation of WeWork that she was even called the company’s third founder. She also got him to quit smoking and to eat a healthier diet, among other things. She became the company’s Chief Brand and Impact Officer. Her job was described as serving as Adam Neumann’s “strategic thought partner.”
“Rebekah’s influence expanded and she even spearheaded her own initiative called WeGrow,” explains Cosmopolitan. An insider is cited as saying that Paltrow she had “grand plans for this division, which would start as an elementary school in New York and ultimately broaden into a worldwide educational model.”
The school started in WeWork’s offices in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood and only charged students $42,000 a year in tuition. The project, which had no clear goals, failed. But last June Paltrow bought the rights to the school’s curriculum for whatever that may be worth. Forbes reported at the time that she planned to relaunch the school as Student of Life For Life, or SOLFL, pronounced “soulful.” But nothing has of yet come of these plans.
