WeWork創始人：巨額估值沖昏了我的頭腦
王波非（Phil Wahba）
2021-11-11
自從兩年前被WeWork罷免之后，這家共享工作空間公司的聯合創始人、前首席執行官亞當·諾伊曼首次公開發表評論。諾伊曼對許多員工的遭遇表示同情，他們的期權在WeWork的業務崩潰后變得一文不值，但他說這種風險其實不可避免。
“我從來沒有想過讓公司走向失敗，這也不是他們當初入職的目的。”11月9日，諾伊曼在《紐約時報》DealBook峰會（New York Times DealBook Summit）上如此說道。他沒有道歉。
WeWork于兩周前通過一家特殊目的收購公司（SPAC）上市。2019年，在公司估值達到470億美元的峰值后不久，IPO計劃失敗，隨后公司裁員數千人。投資者質疑WeWork的商業模式和諾伊曼非傳統的管理風格。現如今，WeWork的市值接近80億美元。
“當你獲得股權并嘗試運行一家初創公司，你就在冒險。”諾伊曼說，“我希望每個人都能夠有不同的結果。”在他自己的例子中，結果很好。諾伊曼在離開公司時帶走了10億美元，這一舉動為他招致了很多批評。
至于他反復無常的管理風格——他承認，WeWork的巨額估值沖昏了他的頭腦。但他表示，長期以來，他的方法似乎是正確的，而且得到了WeWork投資者的支持，其中最大的投資者便是軟銀（SoftBank）。“我在WeWork工作了9年。其中很長一段時間，起碼有7年，都非常好。”諾伊曼稱。他表示，WeWork迅速走向全球，為60種語言的市場服務，為谷歌（Google）、Facebook（現改名為Meta——編者注）和微軟（Microsoft）等科技巨頭建立辦公空間業務。“當公司估值從470億美元下降到90億美元，而我卻在公司走下坡路的時候賺得盆滿缽滿？其實這種看法是完全錯誤的。”他說。
而對于WeWork曾經因為其狂野文化（例如在工作場所大量飲酒和吸食大麻）而聞名的問題，諾伊曼的回答有些隱晦：“我們有一個有趣的文化。”
他還回應了一些老批評，即在他的管理下，WeWork涉嫌自我交易（即內部交易、自欺行為、謀私行為）和創造性會計（即偽造賬目、取巧做賬）。
諾伊曼否認存在自我交易，但表示存在“關聯方交易”。他還回答了有關WeWork首創并使用過的“社區調整息稅折舊攤銷前利潤”（community adjusted EBITDA）會計指標的問題。他表示，“社區調整息稅折舊攤銷前利潤”是指個人實體空間扣除利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷后的收益。
諾伊曼說，他從WeWork的失敗中學到的諸多教訓之一就是：“在金融領域，無聊是最好的。”（財富中文網）
編譯：楊二一
自從兩年前被WeWork罷免之后，這家共享工作空間公司的聯合創始人、前首席執行官亞當·諾伊曼首次公開發表評論。諾伊曼對許多員工的遭遇表示同情，他們的期權在WeWork的業務崩潰后變得一文不值，但他說這種風險其實不可避免。
“我從來沒有想過讓公司走向失敗，這也不是他們當初入職的目的。”11月9日，諾伊曼在《紐約時報》DealBook峰會（New York Times DealBook Summit）上如此說道。他沒有道歉。
WeWork于兩周前通過一家特殊目的收購公司（SPAC）上市。2019年，在公司估值達到470億美元的峰值后不久，IPO計劃失敗，隨后公司裁員數千人。投資者質疑WeWork的商業模式和諾伊曼非傳統的管理風格。現如今，WeWork的市值接近80億美元。
“當你獲得股權并嘗試運行一家初創公司，你就在冒險。”諾伊曼說，“我希望每個人都能夠有不同的結果。”在他自己的例子中，結果很好。諾伊曼在離開公司時帶走了10億美元，這一舉動為他招致了很多批評。
至于他反復無常的管理風格——他承認，WeWork的巨額估值沖昏了他的頭腦。但他表示，長期以來，他的方法似乎是正確的，而且得到了WeWork投資者的支持，其中最大的投資者便是軟銀（SoftBank）。“我在WeWork工作了9年。其中很長一段時間，起碼有7年，都非常好。”諾伊曼稱。他表示，WeWork迅速走向全球，為60種語言的市場服務，為谷歌（Google）、Facebook（現改名為Meta——編者注）和微軟（Microsoft）等科技巨頭建立辦公空間業務。“當公司估值從470億美元下降到90億美元，而我卻在公司走下坡路的時候賺得盆滿缽滿？其實這種看法是完全錯誤的。”他說。
而對于WeWork曾經因為其狂野文化（例如在工作場所大量飲酒和吸食大麻）而聞名的問題，諾伊曼的回答有些隱晦：“我們有一個有趣的文化。”
他還回應了一些老批評，即在他的管理下，WeWork涉嫌自我交易（即內部交易、自欺行為、謀私行為）和創造性會計（即偽造賬目、取巧做賬）。
諾伊曼否認存在自我交易，但表示存在“關聯方交易”。他還回答了有關WeWork首創并使用過的“社區調整息稅折舊攤銷前利潤”（community adjusted EBITDA）會計指標的問題。他表示，“社區調整息稅折舊攤銷前利潤”是指個人實體空間扣除利息、稅項、折舊和攤銷后的收益。
諾伊曼說，他從WeWork的失敗中學到的諸多教訓之一就是：“在金融領域，無聊是最好的。”（財富中文網）
編譯：楊二一
In his first public comments since being ousted from WeWork two years ago, the shared work space company's co-founder and former CEO Adam Neumann expressed sympathy for the many employees whose options became worthless when WeWork's business imploded but said that risk came with the territory.
"It was never my intention for the company not to succeed, and not what they signed up for," Neumann told the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 9 morning, stopping short of an apology.
WeWork, which went public two weeks ago via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), laid off thousands of employees after its IPO plans fizzled in 2019, not long after its valuation reached a peak $47 billion. Investors questioned the company's business model and the unorthodox management style of Neumann. (WeWork has a current market capitalization of nearly $8 billion.)
"When you take equity and you're trying a start-up, you take a risk," Neumann said. "I wish it would have worked out differently for everybody," he added. In his case, it turned out well, with him getting $1 billion on the way out, a move that earned him plenty of criticism.
As for his often erratic management style, he acknowledged that WeWork's mammoth valuation had gone to his head, but said his approach seemed the right one for a long time, one with the support of WeWork investors, the biggest of which was SoftBank. "For a long time—for seven years out of the nine I was there—it was working really well," said Neumann, pointing to how quickly WeWork had gone global and served markets in 60 languages, as well office space business from tech giants like Google, Facebook and Microsoft. "This perception that, as the company went from $47 billion valuation down to $9 billion, and I profited somehow while the company is going down, is completely false," he said.
Neumann skirted questions about WeWork's former reputation for having a wild culture that included lots of drinking and marijuana smoking in the workplace, saying only, "We had a fun culture."
The entrepreneur also addressed some old criticisms that under his management, WeWork engaged in self-dealing and creative accounting.
Neumann denied there was self-dealing, but said there were "related party transactions." He also responded to questions about an unusual accounting metric pioneered and previously used by WeWork called "community adjusted EBITDA," which he said was simply the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of an individual physical space.
One of the many lessons he's learned from the WeWork debacle, he said, was that, "When it comes to finance, it's better to be boring."
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