Adam Neumann in His First Public Interview Since Leaving WeWork | DealBook Online Summit 

this is just a guy who learned exactly how to sound "humble" and "understanding" but it still feels scammy whenever he honeymouths

I thought Jared Leto's interpretation of Neumann was almost a caricature, but man he NAILED this guy. You gotta give it to Adam, he certainly knows how to pitch, persuade and talk to his audience.

This guy is one the greatest salesmen of all time. He screwed over COUNTLESS people, acted like a complete fool, spent Billions of investors money irresponsibly--yet he still comes across so eloquently. This is interview is beyond impressive. Many others would have crashed and burned from these questions

My big takeaway from this whole thing is that Adam understands.

He is a well prepared charlatan

Dude just 100000% convinced me the private jet was as essential to wework’s success as water is for human life. Woah. Awesome.

Man, Jared Leto is one of the most talented actors I’ve ever seen. His impression of Adam is absolutely perfect, I’m amazed 🤯🤯🤯

Jared Leto made a great job portraying Mr.Neumann in the show.

Adam should write his own Carnegie book, 'How to win friends and influence people: the Wework way'

Adam is dodging bullets better than Neo in Matrix

i read the comments, and it baffles me to see the admiration that people feel for an individual who has no integrity. It says a lot about the general values of our society. fascinating.

Forget about WeWork here. His communication style is masterful. By studying the way he communicates I can now understand why people overpaid to invest.

My friend worked for WeWork and believed in the company and its leader. She came out very traumatized , broken down and cynical. One should look at Adams action- not his words... And wonder why he still gets airtime. He is the emblem of " silicon valley-ish" millennial entrepreneur with a god complex.

A stellar example of PR spin mastery... rhetorical guruism.

This guy is scary because he is so good. I’m not easily duped but I could see myself getting sucked in to something like this. The idea was brilliant and he is the type of leader you could gravitate towards easily. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does this again with the same result.

Wow, Jared Leto nailed adam's accent! it's spot on!

This guy spent the past 2 years practicing this interview and doing nothing else apparently

man he is very good at public speaking, he can answer any question and make it sound sweet. no wonder masa and all the other investors believed him.

Dude is an absolute genius when it comes to speaking. He makes me think he did nothing wrong and didn’t screw over hundreds of his employees……even tho he did

One of the best salesmen I have seen. He can sell the trailer to any movie made. He is very convincing and has a presence that can make you want to listen to anything he says.

His lack of accountability is mind blowing.

Man this guy has an answer for everything. Just ask him “Have you ever done anything wrong” ???

Just saw the first episode of WeCrashed. Adam should be a University professor on PSYOPS.

Adam is the king of spin. Great media training. He prepared very well for this interview.

Adam seems like the kind of guy who could convince you to give him the shirt off your back while his team of bandits is robbing your house.

This guy will do well in the metaverse world

All that is needed "I f'ed up, I learnt alot about myself, yeah, I am a narcissist sociopath, I played the game and personally won, its the game, its not fair, it is what it is". This guy can talk. Lawyer, CEO , politician perfection. These people rise to the top in our society....and we wonder why society seems so unfair

Oh my! this guy is such an excellent orator, his grasp in his ability to answer these hard questions and end up winning you over is such a mind blowing skill He has

He "understands."

Without knowing the context of WeWork, if you take ordinary guy watching this clip, they're gonna say that this guy is a brilliant speaker. Body language, intonation, sentences, all perfect.

The fact WeWork was allowed to start over AGAIN and blow up a second time is mind blowing

"This feeling of calmness"....A billion dollars coming your way....these people are brilliant.

He puts on a clinic for snake oil salesmanship. One of the best I've ever seen. The absolute king of spin. Sorkin is my favorite interviewer- I think he was fair and tough.

This is a masterclass in psychological manipulation

“First of all, I understand..” 😵‍💫 - Adam Neumann.

Came here after watching WeCrashed, if you close your eyes you truly can not tell if this is Adam Neumann or Jared Leto on the show... incredible

Belfort: Sell me this pen! Adam: I'm your Dad

Amazing preparation by Adam for all questions, what a sweet talker

“The concern is you extracted a billion dollars when the company otherwise would have been bankrupt…” “I understand. Thank you for clarifying. That didn’t happen.” 🤣🤣🤣

You can hate this man all you want, but he teaches us a good lesson, the power of effective communication. Master this skill, and you can master the world. You can either be an innovator, or a good salesman, and he is the latter.

he is a perfect narcissist. 1.He doesnt loose his calm even after a strong allegation. (like a saint) 2.he will never admit that he was wrong, 3.instead will talk so smoothly to make others believe that they are wrong ! 4.His motive is, if he talks like this others would agree that he did everything for greater good

Everyone who is watching this is so surprised by the fact that it is possible to directly answer tough questions, that no one really cares about anymore if he messed wework up. This interview is a perfect example for high level media training in a world full of dodging politicians that aren't able to truthfully tell us what the weather was this morning.

He has learned one thing very well. That, nothing is his fault. Results of being raised in today's world that nothing is ever your fault.

I have to say this interview sheds light on how intelligent and well spoken and calms Adam is.

Thumbs up to Andrew for bringing up problem of skewed valuation and its consequences.

The perception will become a reality, which it did. He did not once said sorry. Andrew Did a fantastic job by asking all the hard questions.

I’ve worked for a few startups that either folded or never took off. BusinessWeek predicted at one place that the stock was going to go from $8 to $65 and 6 months later the place folded. So my equity in those companies never amounted to anything. Hoping to cash out from a startup is a risk with no guarantee. BTW, the current place I work for got bought out and is doing fine. So if one place doesn’t pan out move on and try again. But know the risk.

media training is on show and on point. what a character he is.

LOL the master wordsmith at work. Really makes you evaluate the value in "taking people at their word."

I can see what the last 2 years were spent on. Dude probably hired the best PR people in the world just for this interview.

This Adam guy plays Jared Leto really well.

He uses "i understand" alot bt at same time very calm and patient not easy to provoke. A master indeed.

This video is a masterclass on how to deliver perfect answers to tough questions.

The lack of sincerity is hilariously entertaining.

I’ve been the first foreigner, since 2018, at WeWork Hangzhou, the home of Alibaba and Geely. I’ve had great time and our company has grown threefold during that time. We’re at the very center of the city and the atmosphere is cool and relaxed, international. I like the design and it’s a very spacious two floor, beautiful area. I have “Neumann’s universe” on my backyard and it is a great place to work. I pay less than $1k for our whole team a month and have a nice, cozy own office with a lot of space for meetings and events - plus the staff is really nice and friendly. I do understand the challenges WeWork has faced - and the criticism towards Neumann and his colleagues. But a fact is that we have a great creative space, it’s really nice to go there every day and our company has been thriving in it.

Petition to bring Jared Leto and redo this interview

Interesting body language and behavior. He has worked on the constant eye contact and quarter smile. Very well rehearsed.

The number of times he says that he understands, is like he is forcing it down our throats like a bad pill that we don't like. I think he is going to make a comeback with something and that he is now going to adopt the "wise man" attitude thing.

4:14 walking away with one billion dollar while creating a business failure, explains why Adam is so satisfied and relaxed

This reminds me of going into a middle eastern pawn store and trying to negotiate for a TV and they’re telling me how they didn’t get the TV for like 10 dollars because it was a pawn and how many cool features it has and how I should buy it.

The WeWork story is about all that is wrong with the business world. Growth and valuation over fundamentals. The idea of being part of the next big thing blinded everyone. Mr. Neumann knew how to take advantage of the opportunity. He's not the only one to blame. His idea was over-valuated, but you have to agree that it was attractive at the time.

A quote came to mind while listening to this …..”The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was Convincing the World He Didn’t Exist”

Notice how "I understand" stands for "I'm sorry" without having to admit to any wrongdoing.

Adam Neumann "There's a sucker born every minute, you just happened to be coming along at the right time"

He didn’t care about the company “philosophy” or of “higher consciousness,” he was all about seeing just how far he could push the envelope with all of the people in his path, especially the people that mattered. He charmed them with his unflinching self-confidence, and his crazy “fun” personality and his only goal was to see how far he could get. While Im sure it bothers him immensely that he is no longer a part of the company, he is riding high on the fact that he was able to do what he did. He even ends up far better off financially than most people. Our society makes people of his kind like “Gods,” and the truth is, these people are con artists, manipulative, and self-serving. There is nothing “Godlike” in their actions or sentiments. They are wolves in sheep”s clothing. One last comment, he is and will not ever take responsibility for the real part he played in the company. He will spin everything that happened by an explanation that he was innocent and was fired at great loss for the company, and basically that only he had this great vision that the other investors did not have and that eventually the company would have grown had he stayed at the helm, even though that was nor would be the case. The Theranos company leader is very similar and to her, it was all about the fact that she “made it, “sure she didn’t “keep” it, but that’s not what matters to them. It was that they wanted to become worth billions, that was their goal. It’s not even about the money. Power and high status were what they were really going after. Interesting that it’s cloaked in language that sounds like they are going to “help man” and “help the world” by their companies. Which of course they will retort to when asked why. They will retort to the fact that their “ends” somehow justified their means.

the guy is so calm and really knows how to respond to tough questions.

I’m so far removed from this situation. I actually had no idea until Apple TV dropped the show “ We Crashed “ Now I feel like a nosy gossip. I need to step away from those who speak in circles. It makes me dizzy and adds nothing of value to my life . Peace ☮️ and prayers continue for the world 🙏

It never ceases to amaze me that people are inspired by this guy. I can see through him straight away

Lots to learn in this interview

He's good..very calm and collected, has the right answer for everything..I could see him representing himself in court and walking away.

This man is definitely a good speaker. Nah that’s a understatement 💯

It’s funny how he keeps giving himself compliments that he got from people and always uses them as hypothesis of his action he took. Such a manipulator and a liar

Seems like he's trying not to burst out cackling throughout this whole interview.

One thing that i learn from this man is that the interviewer is asking aggressive questions and that's his job because i understand many employees who joined faced bad things but since I just know little about the story , i can see how gracefully he is taking the questions without being aggressive or anything, Conclusion Great Speaker may be not a good founder.

Basically Adam understands a lot of things

he is an excellent communicator, no doubt about that

This is a masterclass

He is so good! I listen to him and he is so convincing. I listened to Jared Leto play him and I believe in what he was saying in the movie. I could have gotten sucked into this very fast! Insane!

I decided to watch this interview after I watched the Apple series WeCrashed. Interesting composure and the speaking fluidly a second language. Notwithstanding all the fallout, Adam Neumann closed the largest ever sales call in history. To convince a man/legend Masa to invest $4.4B into a company deserves all the accolades and praise due. Super impressive on so many levels. Serious Congratulations.

He got paid over 1 billion by soft bank when he left I was in the meeting when Marcelo (interim CEO) addressed it after the first round of redundancies because people were angry, we were told this was to thank him for building the company and he will be advising in the handover… just admit this

Can see how he achieved what he did - he's the Alpha and the Omega of spin.

Anyone else watching this and amazed at Jared Leto's portrayal of this guy!?!?!?

Would love to see an analysis of this by The Behavior Panel , especially interested in what Greg Hartley would have to say about Adam and his business

When we see the nature of Neumann what we really see is the nature of ourselves. We are all unconsciously disposed to that 'special' person who comes along and disarms us and convinces us to follow him. He has domain knowing of this tendency in people and he makes maximum use of it. We must all learn more about ourselves so that we can spot people like Neumann and be ready to 'object' when it is required. That is what Neumann needed. WeWork might then have been a success.

This was very entertaining!

I mean this as a compliment. Perhaps one of the greatest salesmen ever.

Some of the We work vision however does ring true. And I can see some of the style and original vision in the space today. I have a co-working membership with WeWork and I got this membership after all of this happened and I knew nothing about Adam Newman. However, the spirit of entrepreneurship, and not working alone and not feeling alone is definitely felt at WeWork- and has had a positive impact on my work and my life. Especially now that I work 100% remote. The spirit of community, while also having your own entrepreneurial work/remote work is very unique. And is not found at other places I’ve been such as Regus etc.

Thank you Adam, i understand.

Saying that he feels sorry for all the employees who had to leave "even thought he wasn't there because it happened after he left", as if the whole shitshow didn't happen because of him 😂 One thing I did understand was, he says he was given so much money he thought he was doing things right.. if everyone else was cheering you on, why would you think you had to do things differently? You'd grow cocky and you don't learn until you learn the lesson. He just didn't have enough business knowledge or experience.. and he wasn't lucky enough to encounter someone who convinced him what he was doing wrong. People most close to him were probably also drunk with money! Money blinds you, it's a human weakness... But in reality most startups fail, they try again a few times until they succeed. People lose jobs all the time because of startups going down. I think he had a cool vision, just bad execution, all the negative press about him is a bit unfair tbh

I had no idea of any of this happened. Just stumbled upon the show. Jared Leto did an awesome job playing Adam. The real Adam Neumann has a gift!

I was thinking I wasn't going to like him, but I found this to be a great interview. The questions were tough, and his responses were well-spoken. One thing I noticed was the amount of presence he has in the moment. It occurred to me that being able to remain so grounded and to speak to what he believed to be true is his gift. Whether that "truth" is what we might agree with or not is up for debate, but he honestly believes what he says and that congruency in his words and body language does come across. I don't doubt that he's a great salesman and communicator, and frankly speaking, one must be great in order to "advance" as far as he has. That's charisma-I'm not saying he is a con man or not-but he certainly does speak with charisma.

Lots of good footage for a future movie here. Adam is getting ready for more adventures.

Looking forward to the Apple TV Series

The power of getting interview questions beforehand

Great stuff Adam - thanks for taking their cash. Absolutely brilliant.

"Mr.Hilter, what do you say to the families of those you've killed" "The first thing I want to say is I understand"

This man has an amazing ability to word salad his way out of everything! Luv it 😍

One of the best ConMan SLEAZE BALLS of all time

This was actually a really good interview. Questions are straight hard and answers are non-emotional and give background to answers also. Would be nice to see such interviews for politics as well :)

I have seen the documentary they made of Adam, but listening to him shows me he is a true hustler, against the odds he came on top and that is it. In business, there are always losers and winners. I still dont see how Wework is that valuable, but again that just me.