Based on what I already knew about Adam Neumann, I had him pegged as a douchebag. WeWork, the documentary about the company he almost killed, didn't do anything to change my mind.

As CEO of WeWork, Neumann demonstrated a special talent for inventing things that already exist. First it was shared workspaces. Then, with WeLive, he invented apartment buildings. Finally, with WeGrow, he invented private schools. Since he thrived on the illusion that his company was a tech startup, they also made a social network for WeWork members and an "operating system for physical spaces" called WeOS. This sequence of brain farts somehow convinced SoftBank's Masa Son to invest four billion dollars.

WeWork employees and members share a lot of cringey anecdotes. One describes company events that were so unpopular, they had to use tracking bracelets to enforce attendance. Another recalls Neumann saying, "I could fire all of you and do this by myself." (Spoiler alert: he could not.) When a member company published unflattering statistics about WeWork's high churn rate and low social network usage, WeWork evicted them for violating the "membership happiness clause." When Neumann confuses the difference between a cappuccino and a latte, an employee assures him that he didn't make a mistake, but this particular coffee shop swapped the drink names. His ego is so fragile, the narcissistic injury of being told he used a word wrong is capable of physically crippling him.

Neumann's wife Rebekah gets some screen time not only for her questionable contributions to the company, but her occasional forays into filmmaking. The clips from her 2010 short Awake look like a parody of student films.

This clown show managed to peak at a $47 billion valuation. As NYU professor Scott Galloway puts it, "For God's sake, they're renting fucking desks."

I wish I could say WeWork is a cautionary tale. Unfortunately, considering the $970 million golden parachute that was Neumann's reward for failure, I'm sure there's a non-trivial demographic of douchebags who would consider his story aspirational.

If you're interested in reading more about WeWork and Neumann, check out Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman.

7 out of 10.

Seen on Hulu.