The Atlantic, September 25, 2019: Curse of the Cult of the Founder
Some things to know about Adam Neumann, the founder of WeWork: He once smoked pot in a private plane while crossing an international border. He banned meat from the WeWork corporate offices, then said the company would not reimburse employees for meals containing meat, then was seen eating meat himself. He once somberly addressed a recent round of layoffs at a staff gathering, which then became a tequila-infused dance party. Now, with WeWork’s initial public offering postponed and its valuation faltering, he is out of a job. Neumann is stepping down as chief executive officer of the unicorn, which subleases commercial real estate, while remaining nonexecutive chairman.
Call it the curse of the cult of the founder. Here in the Bay Area, brilliant, brash, cavalier founders upend established industries, gin up hundreds of billions of dollars of investment and transform the way that people—rich people, at least—interact with the world. But brilliant, brash, cavalier founders may waste investors’ money, flout laws and regulations and put their workers at risk.
Such founders tend to come with a singularity of vision, a disregard for entrenched business practices and boundless creativity. They are disruptors, their businesses earthquakes that change how things are done.
