BUSINESS
This Is Not the Way Everybody Behaves. How Adam Neumanns Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork.
The skills that helped fuel We Co.s breakneck growth are piling up as potential liabilities as the company prepares to go public
By Eliot Brown
https://twitter.com/eliotwb
ELIOT.BROWN@WSJ.COM
Sept. 18, 2019 12:23 pm ET
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He has created a distinct culture in his mold. T-shirts and signs sport slogans such as hustle harder and Thank God its Monday. Employees are often big company boosters, creating a work-hard, play-hard office, with a millennial hipster vibe.
Alcohol has been a big part of the culture, particularly in Wes first half-decade. Mr. Neumann has told people he likes how it brings people together, and tequila, his favorite, flows freely. Executive retreats sport numerous cases of Don Julio 1942, with a retail price of more than $110 a bottle, and pours sometimes start in the morning.
A few weeks after Mr. Neumann fired 7% of the staff in 2016, he somberly addressed the issue at an evening all-hands meeting at headquarters, telling attendees the move was tough but necessary to cut costs, and the company would be better because of it.
Then employees carrying trays of plastic shot glasses filled with tequila came into the room, followed by toasts and drinks.
Soon after, Darryl McDaniels of hip-hop group Run-DMC entered the room, embraced Mr. Neumann and played a set for the staff. Workers danced to the 1980s hit Its Tricky as the tequila trays made more rounds; some others, still focused on the firings, say they were stunned and confused.
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Maureen Farrell contributed to this article.
Write to Eliot Brown at eliot.brown@wsj.com