Adam Neumann, co-founder and former CEO of shared office company WeWork, is working on a new rental real estate venture with Andreessen Horowitz. According to a report, the venture capital company invested over $350 million in Neumann’s next real estate venture, Flow, which promises to deliver a similar living experience throughout a network of branded apartment complexes.
If you’re acquainted with the WeWork tale, you could have a sense of déjà vu. The firm, which supplies employees with flexible office space, was reportedly valued at $50 billion. However, after a failed IPO and the layoffs of hundreds of its employees, WeWork became recognized for corporate drama rather than its real business. Neumann received a $1.7 billion departure payment when he stepped down as CEO in 2019.
This is the “biggest individual cheque made by Andreessen Horowitz in a round of financing to a firm.” It values Flow at more than $1 billion, despite opponents “who have portrayed his leadership of WeWork as a cautionary tale of corporate arrogance,” and it hasn’t yet opened.
Neumann has already purchased 3,000 housing properties in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville in preparation for the launch of his Flow-branded condominiums in 2023.
