Billion Dollar Loser
The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
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Narrated by:
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Will Collyer
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Written by:
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Reeves Wiedeman
About this listen
A Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller: This "vivid" inside story of WeWork and its CEO tells the remarkable saga of one of the most audacious, and improbable, rises and falls in American business history (Ken Auletta).
Christened a potential savior of Silicon Valley's startup culture, Adam Neumann was set to take WeWork, his office share company disrupting the commercial real estate market, public, cash out on the company's forty-seven billion dollar valuation, and break the string of major startups unable to deliver to shareholders. But as employees knew, and investors soon found out, WeWork's capital was built on promises that the company was more than a real estate purveyor, that in fact it was a transformational technology company.
Veteran journalist Reeves Weideman dives deep into WeWork and its CEO's astronomical rise, from the marijuana and tequila-filled board rooms to cult-like company summer camps and consciousness-raising with Anthony Kiedis. Billion Dollar Loser is a character-driven business narrative that captures, through the fascinating psyche of a billionaire founder and his wife and co-founder, the slippery state of global capitalism.
©2020 Reeves Wiedeman (P)2020 Little, Brown & CompanyYou may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
“Vivid, carefully reported drama that readers will gulp down as if it were a fast-paced novel.” (Ken Auletta)
What listeners say about Billion Dollar Loser
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark Grubisich
- 2022-03-20
Wow!!! That is interesting!!!
One of my favourite books. Very well written without bias. Incredible detail without boring sections. I want to listen to it again.
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- colin
- 2023-06-05
Great listen
The narrator was excellent, very engaging and descriptive. The story while long was informative and well researched
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- Anonymous User
- 2022-08-02
Well written
Loved the storytelling! I highly recommend this book even if you watched Wecrash on Apple TV
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- Hamza Khan
- 2021-02-16
Great book; worst character
Great book but boy is Adam sooooo unlikable... to the point I had to stop listening sometimes!
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- Dale
- 2022-09-13
Worth a read but with healthy skepticism
This was an odd one.
Right off the bat, the author, surprisingly, reveals himself to be an unreliable narrator, stretching things to try to tarnish the WeWork founders. I chuckled out loud as the journalist mocked Adam's first business as "only" managing to make $3 million dollars, watched with amusement as he tried to make the case that Adam's connections with Trump was bad in some way (what millionaire doesn't like Trump?) and then was surprised when WeWork collapsed and the author didn't go for the kill.
This book is a good retelling of the history of WeWork and its downfall but laced into every line is the bitterness of every ex-employee, competitor and failed investor along with many rumors and gossip. If you read it, read it with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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