WeWork Founder Spent Sukkos In Crown Heights

By COLlive reporter 

WeWork founder Adam Neumann‘s mother has told an Israeli radio station that her son has been “a religiously observant Jew for three years.”

Dr. Aviva Neumann told Ayala Hasson-Nesher in a 103FM Israel radio interview on Wednesday that her son has found religion through Chabad.

“He’s a US member of the Chabad religious movement, which is something nice, with songs at Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday and going to synagogue on Sabbaths and holidays,” his mother said.

The ousted WeWork CEO has been seen in Crown Heights over the Sukkos holiday this week, hosted by at least two local residents for festive holiday meals in the Sukkah. As reported on COLlive, Chabad Rabbi Yisroel Heller studies regularly with him.

He has also been a guest at the Gala Banquet of the International Conference of Shluchim in 2018, and was a guest speaker at the annual Chabad Teen Conference in New York 8 months ago.

“The first time I saw him put on tefilin, I almost fell on the floor, and he was terribly insulted. In general, however, I respect his connection to religion. It added to a dimension that he always had,” his mother said.

News reports linked Neumann and his wife to the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Center, which is widely opposed by Orthodox rabbis for the skewed way it presents mystical Jewish teachings. It is not clear if the Neumanns connection with the center is ongoing.

The interview took place the day after Japanese company Softbank was given the go-ahead to take over WeWork, the company founded by Neumann.

In March, according to Forbes, Adam Neumann’s net worth was $4.1 billion but that sum had plummeted to just $600 million at the beginning of the month as WeWork’s valuation plunged from $47 billion to $8 billion.

WeWork’s board of directors gave its approval yesterday to a final takeover of the shared workspaces real estate company by Softbank. Neumann will receive nearly $1.7 billion for leaving his company’s board of directors.

“This is a happy end, because Adam is happy with his wife and five children,” she said.