WeWork’s Adam Neumann 'need not apply' to luxury Manhattan apartments
Even billionaires may not be able to buy happiness if it requires a luxury Manhattan apartment.
WeWork’s ousted CEO Adam Neumann and his wife, Rebekah, for example, were shopping for a Fifth Avenue home in the $50 million range when he learned the co-op boards of at least three prestigious buildings had rejected him sight unseen, according to a report from new report from Page Six.
The panels indicated "he need not even apply," a real estate insider told the outlet.
“Neumann wanted the gilded life on Fifth Avenue," that source told PageSix. "But the brokers put in discreet calls to members of the co-op boards, and they all said no.”
Representatives of both Neumann and former WeWork commercial real estate chief Mark Lapidus, enlisted to help the mogul in his search, told Page Six the story was completely false.
“Mark walked into those buildings as a favor to a broker and left within five minutes," they said. "There was never any thought of the Neumanns living there, nor a discussion with anybody about them applying.”
This isn’t the first time Neumann’s house-hunting has made headlines. The billionaire previously looked at homes on the Upper East Side, and what caught his eye was a full-floor penthouse to the tune of $39 million, the New York Post reported.
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Neumann stepped down as the CEO of WeWork's parent company, once valued at $47 billion by private investors, last month. His departure was seen as a reckoning between the fast-growing startup and disenchanted investors concerned about Neumann's corporate governance and the firm's prospects for turning a profit.
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Following the move, WeWork’s new leaders have shelved plans to enter the stock market as they seek to repair the company’s battered image. Some investors are now questioning the company's long-term viability.
In September, WeWork's parent company said Neumann will be replaced by two co-CEOs: Artie Minson, formerly co-president and chief financial officer, and Sebastian Gunningham, formerly vice chairman. Neumann will remain on its board as non-executive chairman.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.