''Billion Dollar Loser'' is a 2020 book by Reeves Wiedeman about

WeWork WeWork Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Ove ...

and its founder

Adam Neumann Adam Neumann (; born April 25, 1979) is an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and investor. In 2010, he co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey, where he was CEO from 2010 to 2019. In 2019, he co-founded a family office dubbed 166 2nd Fi ...

Synopsis

The book combines interviews with

employees with analysis from other industry experts to recount the founding of office space leasing company WeWork, and its rapid ascent followed by its later devaluation and unsuccessful

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. Neumann's role as CEO and the cult of personality surrounding him are a major focus of the book.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote that the book was "a thrilling page-turner about the fantastic success and subsequent crash of WeWork." Writing for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', J.C. Pan described it as "a definitive chronology of a company doomed not by one bad business strategy—or even Neumann’s outsize ego—but by the rot of a postrecession economy that nurtured a certain flavor of investor-class mania." On the other hand,

Walter Kirn Walter Norris Kirn (born August 3, 1962) is an American novelist, literary critic, and essayist. He is the author of eight books, most notably '' Up in the Air'', which was made into a film of the same name starring George Clooney. Education Ki ...

described the book as a "cautionary tale" about Neumann. Jennifer Szalai of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that Wiedeman allowed the evidence and anecdotes from Neumann's time as CEO to speak for itself, illustrating a confidence game through which "Neumann had passed himself off as a tech visionary." Kathryn Brenzel, in a review for the trade publication ''The Real Deal'', wrote that the book was "more recap than revelation".

References

{{Reflist WeWork American non-fiction books 2020 non-fiction books Books about companies English-language non-fiction books Hodder & Stoughton books