The One With All The Money
What happens after the S-1 statement is released?
Rebekah and Adam try to reassure the workers that everything is under control and that they will be able to get through the night. However, some of the workers are still very worried and decide to head home. Rebekah and Adam stay behind to continue working on the statement, but they are quickly overwhelmed with work.
Adam is caught off guard when he learns that WeWork is about to become a public company. He doesn’t understand why the media is so against this move, but he knows that everything is about to change. The media has been wrong before, and they will be wrong again if Adam isn’t careful.
How does Adam’s fallout begin?
On Wednesday September 18th 2019, the news ran with a story that Adam is about to destroy WeWork. The only solution here, and the only viable way to try and save the company, is to take Adam and boot him out. The board of directors vote on it too. Rebekah finds out, she brings in all of her lawyers and tries to stop this.
The clause in their contract allows them to do a “supervote” which essentially grants them more power over everyone else on the board. Rebekah contemplates whether she should just get rid of the board of directors completely and make her own board of yes men. That’s something that’s not going to do well and it’s only exacerbated by those same lawyers warning of a big legal fight if they’re not careful.
When Adam and Rebekah return to the office, they don’t have the same energy or presence that they had before. Their employees are angry and upset because they were promised an IPO that is no longer going to happen. Even Bruce is angry, and this change is quite surprising given he used to be one of Adam’s most vocal supporters. ..
Jamie points out to Adam that he is his own worst enemy and that given he is still appointed as CEO, no one will buy the stocks.
Does Adam step down as CEO?
Adam, the CEO of a company he co-founded, spirals out of control and catches up with Miguel, one of the founders, in the quiet recesses of the late night. Miguel points out that Adam doesn’t deserve this but his kind attitude is enough for Adam to do the right thing and step down as CEO. ..
At the offices, news of Bea’s admission to Harvard Business School spreads. Her admission essay, which was about WeWork and how not to start a business, ironically turned out to be a good fit for the school. ..
WeWork’s new CEO, Cameron, is pushing the workers hard to embrace hard work and forget about Adam’s childish fantasies of saving the world. He tells them to focus on their job and the shared community space WeWork was designed for. ..
Does Cameron change WeWork’s fortunes?
The company is in a bind. They can’t continue to hemorrhage money and lay off employees, but they also can’t afford to keep paying severance pay and keep the company afloat.
The company’s biggest problem is that Adam agreed to an expansion out of the IPO just prior to stepping down. He’s locked the company into contracts to double the size of WeWork and in doing so, is on the verge of finding investors coming down hard on him.
How does Adam get away with a massive payout?
Since Adam stepped down as CEO, the company has been unable to find a new leader or receive any investment. This leaves the company vulnerable to potential closure. ..
It seems that Adam is trying to play a dangerous game of chicken with Masa. Masa himself is looking to expand his own business portfolio, and some of that rests on WeWork being a success. Or at least a functional business that doesn’t completely crash like it’s about to.
In the middle of the night, Masa blinks first and phones Adam, offering to pay him 500 million for him to sell his shares. Adam refuses. However, he does get a massive windfall, or a “golden parachute” as the news calls it when he renegotiates a different rate. Adam gets to ride away into the sunset with stacks of cash while SoftBank takes 80% of the company’s shares.
How does WeCrashed Season 1 end?
Rebekah is excited to hear that her WeGrow program will go ahead as planned. However, Masa rings and asks a simple question. “Who wins in a fight, the smart one or the crazy one?” This is a trick question though. The real winner is that one with all the money and Masa promises that there’s no way Adam is going to get his buyout. Rebekah is excited to hear this and hangs up with Masa.
In the episode, we learn that WeWork actually did go public but at a valuation of $9 billion instead. Unfortunately those in the dirt are the lowly employees, who were left with nothing while Adam rides off with a good deal of money and the ability to invest in a new company.
The Episode Review
Rebekah and Adam’s story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of capitalism, in which the rich always get richer. Despite running WeWork into the ground, Adam lands on his feet and even manages to invest in another company. It’s crazy to think that a lot of the employees were left with nothing, and while the company has actually gone public, it’s nowhere near the behemoth it was promised to be.
WeCrashed was too long, there’s no getting around that. The show could easily have been shortened by a good 3 or 4 episodes and some of these chapters could have been more focused.
The past few episodes of WeWork have been pretty good and seeing Adam’s fall from the hierarchy has actually been quite satisfying to watch. These aren’t nice people and seeing these narcissists getting their just desserts (even if it is only for a little while) makes for a compelling watch. Either way though, WeCrashed bows out with a sobering reminder that rich people, unfortunately, will always fall on their feet.
