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A scientist from <keyword id="75850" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-institute-of-science" source="Orion">Indian institute of Science</keyword> (IISc), Bengaluru, has worked on applications of emerging materials that can help computers mimic functions that the brain can perform rapidly. "While several synaptic device proposals are available in literature, none helps bridge the gap between biological neural networks and their artificial counterpart. Our work has shown that developing systems that can mimic brain-like function is achievable. It can help computers perform cognitive functions, identify people from a crowd, distinguish smell as well as learn and take decisions," IISc's Professor Mayank Shrivastava, who is also a recipient of Swarna Jayanti Fellowship 2020-21, said. Since their inception, advanced computing systems have been using von <keyword id="13076084" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neumann-architecture" source="Orion">Neumann architecture</keyword>, which uses physically separated processing and memory blocks. While it has been the most cost-effective approach to date, physical separation of memory from the processing blocks has become the rate limiter for pushing the computational capabilities of advanced nano-electronic systems. Besides, von Neumann's architecture fails in real-time processing of information that the <keyword id="67889" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="human-brain" source="Orion">human brain</keyword> can process in a fraction of a second. Keeping these gaps in mind, an alternative architecture, inspired by the organisation of neurons (processing unit) and synapses (memory) in the human brain that emulates brain-like computing behaviour, have been explored significantly in the last decade. A significant amount of research to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the brain and explorations of various novel memory architectures is now giving the engineering community confidence that developing systems that can mimic brain-like function is an achievable goal for the coming decades. A key element of such an architecture is a memory device called the artificial synapse, which, however, must work on biological / synaptic principles. Professor Srivastava is exploring materials such as Gallium Nitride (GaN), atomically thin two-dimensional materials like Graphene, and Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), for various electronics, power devices, electro-optic, Thz, memory, and quantum applications. Using Graphene and 2D-TMDCc, he is extending capabilities of memory devices to work on biological / synaptic principles and bridge the gap between biological neural networks and their artificial counterpart. Currently, along with his research group, he is developing few-atom thick neuromorphic circuits, GaN-based ultra-high-power devices with high reliability, and devices / circuits for operation at THz frequencies. Professor Shrivastava's work has resulted in over 150 peer-reviewed international publications and around 50 patents, and he has set a GaN manufacturing startup named AGNIT Semiconductors. Most of these patents are either licensed by semiconductor companies or are in use in their products. He is also one of the co-founders of a Pvt. Ltd. Company. As part of this fellowship, his group plans to work on novel devices emulating brain-like (computational) behaviour. This should eventually help developing few-atom thick neuromorphic circuits, which will be capable of solving several complex problems which a human brain can solve in a fraction of seconds, but a conventional computer can't in real-time. "We are still too far from realizing a brain-like computational system. (But) the present work will give a pathway to bridge the critical gaps," said Professor Shrivastava.

IISc scientist develops material that can help computers mimic brain-like functions

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been saying for years that so-called unicorns - tech startups valued at $1 billion or more - are a bad idea, allowed to grow too big without proper governance.</li><li>But when asked by Business Insider if WeWork represents all that's wrong with unicorns in the wake of its IPO fiasco, Benioff gave a surprising response.</li><li>Instead he praised WeWork's former CEO Adam Neumann as 'one of the greatest entrepreneurs I've ever met."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul>For years, billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has warned that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-unicorns-are-a-huge-mistake-2015-11">unicorns are a bad idea</a>, saying that tech startups should raise less money and go public way before a private investor anoints them with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Two years ago, he even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-predicts-dead-unicorns-cheap-startups-2016-1">predicted "a lot of dead unicorns."</a>The disappointing IPOs of Uber and Lyft, and the fiasco that was WeWork's aborted public offering, have seemingly borne out his warnings.The problem, he tells Business Insider, is that these large startups grew too big without going through the "spiritual cleanse" that the IPO process provides."For a lot of my friends, I tell them the same thing, which is they need to go public earlier, not take so much money," he told Business Insider, as part of his media tour for his new book about corporate social responsibility <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trailblazer-marc-benioff/1131577288#/">called "Trailblazer".</a>"The IPO is a spiritual cleanse. It's true. It causes everything that's bad in your company to come out because the governance processes take hold: Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, GAAP accounting, auditing, all of these, because you're taking other people's money," he said, referring to several of the regulations and requirements around the IPO process.Yet when asked if WeWork, and its corporate parent The We Company, was the ultimate example of all-things-wrong with unicorns, Benioff stood up for WeWork founder Adam Neumann.Neumann was forced to resign as CEO of his company last month when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-ipo-fiasco-adam-neumann-explained-events-timeline-2019-9">his IPO went off the rails</a> after the company released its S-1, the prospectus to go public. In the S-1, the company detailed a long list of items that scared off investors - from its business model fundamentals, to Neumann's unchecked power and self-dealing. We's bonds are now<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wework-bonds-downgraded-further-into-junk-status-by-sp-global-2019-9-1028560011"> rated deep into junk territory</a> and the company is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-investor-softbank-could-take-over-company-wsj-2019-10">seeking other financing options to keep itself afloat. </a>But Benioff gave some surprising full-throated support for Neumann, while at the same time seeming to almost admit that We is one of those unicorns he had foretold."Adam is a friend of mine. I actually think he's probably one of the greatest entrepreneurs I've ever met. He's an incredible evangelist. He's an incredible visionary. He's hired a lot of amazing people. He's built an amazing brand, right? Unfortunately, there were some things, obviously, in the company that you probably would have preferred to change if he could do it all over again," Benioff said. "They have like $3 billion in revenue, but Salesforce went public when we had $100 million in revenue," Benioff said. It used to be common for a startup to go public once it hit the $100 million mark.Benioff and Neumann are also sort-of neighbors: WeWork rented three stories in San Francisco's Salesforce Tower, where Benioff keeps his office, to make its West Coast headquarters. WeWork's offices there have a grand-scale design, and are connected by a large atrium and a huge staircase, <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/adam-kimmel-wework-office-san-francisco-salesforce-tower">Architectural Digest reported in 2018.</a>But WeWork is already said to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-plans-thousands-of-job-cuts-shelving-initial-public-offering-2019-10">gearing up of hefty layoffs of its 10,000-plus workforce</a>, plus selling off a number of the companies it acquired, putting its need for such large and lavish employee offices in question.

Ousted WeWork CEO Adam Neumann 'is a great entrepreneur,' says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Michael Kovac/Getty Images for WeWorkWeWork cofounder and former CEO Adam Neumann</div></div></div><ul><li>WeWork employees were swept up by cofounder and then-CEO Adam Neumann's wild ambitions and enthralled by his startup's cool culture and lavish perks, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-rise-and-fall-of-wework">according to the New Yorker</a>.</li><li>"In retrospect, there's no way this could have worked," a WeWork software engineer told the magazine. "People were high. It seems insane now, but at the time it made so much sense."</li><li>WeWork flew 8,000 employees to London for a company retreat where Lorde performed and Deepak Chopra led a meditation, and Neumann floated the idea of a WeWork on water called WeSail, the New Yorker reported.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6?r=US&amp;IR=T">Read more of Business Insider's WeWork coverage here</a>.</li></ul>WeWork employees were swept up by cofounder and then-CEO Adam Neumann's wild ambitions and enthralled by his company's cool culture and lavish perks, but grew concerned as red flags mounted, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-rise-and-fall-of-wework">according to the New Yorker</a>, which interviewed several WeWork staff."In retrospect, there's no way this could have worked," a WeWork software engineer told the magazine. "People were high. It seems insane now, but at the time it made so much sense."The shared-workspace startup plowed money into growing its business without setting realistic targets."It was chaos," a WeWork architectural designer told the New Yorker. Trying to organize the large teams "was like herding cats," she said, and WeWork's sales staff "were always promising insane things like 'We'll get it done by October!' And it's July."WeWork also splashed its cash on flying 8,000 employees to a company retreat in London last summer, where Lorde performed and Deepak Chopra led a meditation, the New Yorker reported. The event was a warning sign for some employees."OK, this is $2,500 a head just for the flights," a WeWork designer told the magazine. "From a business perspective, there were some red flags there."WeWork staff, increasingly worried about their employer's scattershot approach and reckless spending, hoped there were adults pulling the strings."There was always this assumption that, behind Adam, there was someone intelligent - a group of people - who were watching and making the practical, financial decisions," a WeWork development worker told the magazine. "That someone was taking care of it."However, that idea was dashed at another WeWork gathering in Los Angeles in January - figure skater Adam Rippon and actor Jaden Smith made appearances - where Neumann floated the idea of a WeWork on water called WeSail, and creating a WeBank."That was when it hit me," the development worker told the New Yorker. "There wasn't anyone else running the company. It was just Adam and his wife."WeWork, which secured a private valuation of $47 billion in January, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-nightmare-ipo?r=US&amp;IR=T">scrapped its planned IPO in September</a> after <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wework-ipo-adam-neumann-business-model-valuation-2019-9-1028530754">investors attacked</a> its business model, mushrooming losses, governance, and Neumann's controversial behavior. Running short of cash, it agreed a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-agrees-to-rescue-wework-in-a-bailout-deal-2019-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">$9.5 billion rescue deal</a> with SoftBank last month.The Japanese conglomerate <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/softbank-vision-fund-wework-valuation-5-billion-without-rescue-deal-2019-11-1028669293">slashed its valuation of WeWork by more than 80% to below $5 billion</a> in the three months to September 30, it revealed this week.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/10-up-and-coming-fintechs-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=finance&amp;itm_campaign=10-up-and-coming-fintechs-2019"></a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3rd-wave-tech-stocks-why-theyre-new-disruptors-mark-baribeau-2019-10">A big-money investor in juggernauts like Facebook and Netflix breaks down the '3rd wave' firms that are leading the next round of tech disruption</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

'It seems insane now' - WeWork employees bought into cofounder Adam Neumann's vision but grew worried as red flags mounted

<ul class="summary-list"><li>David Fano is the founder of <keyword id="40236" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="case">CASE</keyword>, a startup bought by <keyword id="2918346" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="WeWork">WeWork</keyword> in 2015.</li><li>On Twitter, Fano said the acquisition process moved quickly, closing in just 25 days.</li><li>But the process almost destroyed his company when employees were faced with a snap decision.</li></ul>The founder of a company acquired by WeWork described the lessons from a whirlwind process of joining Adam Neumann's startup in a <a href="https://twitter.com/davidfano/status/1384902371080298499">Twitter thread</a> on Wednesday.Dave Fano worked at WeWork for nearly four years after his architecture and planning company, CASE, was acquired in 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile. But it almost didn't happen. "We spent 7 years building an amazing culture of trust and transparency, and in a span of 24 hours, almost lost it all," Fano wrote. "Caught up in trying to get the deal done, we lost sight of how this process would make everyone feel."Fano said CASE told its workers of the WeWork acquisition and asked them to return signed documents within 24 hours. The entire process took less than a month from when a verbal agreement was reached to when the deal officially closed. The transaction put many of the firm's employees in a tailspin, Fano said. CASE was given less than two weeks after the letter of intent was signed to officially close the deal by informing employees and getting the workers to review WeWork's employment agreement.According to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2018/08/27/mergers-and-acquisitions-key-considerations-when-selling-your-company/#:~:text=2.,6%20months%20is%20not%20uncommon.">data from Forbes</a>, most <keyword id="73277" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="mergers-and-acquisitions">mergers and acquisitions</keyword> take about four to six months, but can also encompass a period of several years. Even at that rate, many employees choose to leave companies after mergers and acquisitions. <a href="https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/your-acquired-hires-are-leaving-heres-why#:~:text=According%20to%20Daniel%20Kim's%20paper,similar%20skills%20and%20work%20experiences.ces.">Data from the MIT Sloan Management School</a> found that within the first year of a company's acquisition 33% of workers leave the company as compared to the standard rate of 12%. "That was one of the worst business decisions I've been a part of in all my career," Fano, who's now the CEO of career planning company <a href="https://www.tealhq.com/v">Teal,</a> said in his Twitter thread.At the time, WeWork was considered a promising startup. It was chosen by Fortune magazine as one of its <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/01/21/unicorns-hype-valuations/">three unicorns to bet on</a> in 2016 but went downhill fast when it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/business/dealbook/wework-ipo-filing.html">filed to go public in 2019</a>. Fano left his position at WeWork as the company's chief growth officer about five months before it filed to go public. Within six weeks of filing, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-nightmare-ipo">WeWork spiraled down from a $47 billion valuation to talk of bankruptcy</a> when its S-1 filing revealed the company had suffered heavy financial losses.Since then, the company appears to have turned around for WeWork. In March, the company<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-spac-bowx-merger-public-2021-3"> announced it had reached a deal to go public via a SPAC.</a>Eventually, Fano said, he asked for more time from CEO Adam Neumann, who agreed to give the team several extra weeks. Despite the extra time, he said the company still lost many employees as a result of the acquisition. But he does not regret his decision to join WeWork.Fano said the situation opened his eyes to the importance of company values. By asking employees to make a 24-hour decision, he felt he violated a culture of trust and dependency. "As intense as that moment was, I would not trade it for the following 4 years at WeWork," he wrote. "Everyone experienced incredible career growth. WeWork enabled people to explore new career paths, take on new responsibilities, and build relationships that will stay with them forever."

The founder of a startup bought by WeWork describes how he almost destroyed his 7-year-old company's culture in the span of 24 hours over one simple mistake

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Jackal Pan / GettyWeWork CEO Adam Neumann</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li style="font-weight: 400;">Coworking startup <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-adam-neumann-ipo-board-directors-aim-for-new-ceo-2019-9">WeWork</a> has acquired at least 21 startups since 2015, <a href="https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/62181-28/company/profile#investments">according to Pitchbook data.</a></li><li style="font-weight: 400;">The single largest deal we know about is WeWork's acquisition of a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-coworking-competitors-highlight-how-they-are-different-ipo-delayed-2019-9"> Singapore-based coworking startup for $500 million in 2017.</a></li><li style="font-weight: 400;">Several of the startups it acquired seem to fit right in with WeWork's business model, such as architectural design firms or office space management tools.</li><li style="font-weight: 400;"> Other deals, such as a big investment in a wave pool company, were pet projects led by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-we-company-ceo-neumann-starts-talks-on-his-role-at-wework-parent-sources-2019-9">WeWork cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann</a>.</li><li style="font-weight: 400;">The majority of founders whose companies were acquired <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-vp-lawsuit-discrimination-cultish-culture-2019-9">did not continue working at WeWork</a> following the deals.</li></ul><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6">For more WeWork news, click here.</a></li></ul>Embattled coworking startup WeWork has been on something of a shopping spree.Before <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-adam-neumann-ipo-board-directors-aim-for-new-ceo-2019-9">delaying its IPO</a> and finding itself in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-board-firing-ceo-adam-neumann-broken-startups-2019-9">middle of a potential boardroom coup</a>, the young startup was snapping up a wide variety of startups. <a href="https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/62181-28/company/profile#investments">According to Pitchbook data</a>, WeWork has acquired 21 companies since 2015.The details of many of those deals were never made public - but we know that WeWork paid about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-just-bought-a-coding-camp-and-its-actually-a-great-idea-2017-10">$40 million for Flatiron School</a>, an online coding school, and that it made what's likely its biggest deal ever when it spent $500 million for a<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-coworking-competitors-highlight-how-they-are-different-ipo-delayed-2019-9"> Singapore-based coworking startup called Spacemob</a>.Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-ron-fisher-softbank-vision-fund-behind-wework-valuation-ipo-2019-9">Meet Ron Fisher, the SoftBank executive on WeWork's board leading the campaign to oust CEO Adam Neumann</a>Many, if not most, of those startups have fit squarely within WeWork's core coworking business. All told, WeWork has acquired multiple office management startups, ranging from construction software and architecture design firms, to marketing tools and messaging services. But some acquisitions don't fit as nicely, including WeWork's 2016 purchase of a large stake in a Spanish company that makes wave pools. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-we-company-ceo-neumann-starts-talks-on-his-role-at-wework-parent-sources-2019-9">WeWork's cofounder and CEO Adam Neumann</a>, who is now under scrutiny for potential misuse of company funds and questionable investing practices, is an avid surfer.According to Pitchbook and LinkedIn, many founders whose companies were acquired did not stay on to work for Neumann at WeWork, which <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-vp-lawsuit-discrimination-cultish-culture-2019-9">Business Insider recently reported had a "cultish" culture</a> that did not favor outsiders.WeWork did not return Business Insider's request for comment.Here are the 21 startups WeWork has acquired since 2015, according to Pitchbook data.

WeWork has acquired 21 startups in the last four years, from  a college messaging service to a real estate investing app. Here's everything WeWork has bought.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Between the well-publicized issues with its company culture and its equally publicized layoffs, some WeWork employees are worried for their careers.</li><li>Some say that new job offers aren't hard to come by, but feel they are being offered substandard wages.</li><li>Others fear the association with WeWork's culture will impact their future job prospects.</li><li>A survey of WeWork employees on anonymous chat app Blind found that about 30% of those who took the poll have these concerns. </li><li>While that indicates most employees feel that their time at WeWork is a net positive for their careers, the concern is broad enough that at least one manager addressed it head-on in a post on LinkedIn.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6">Read more WeWork news here</a>.</li></ul>As WeWork commences its layoffs this week, some WeWork employees are concerned that their time with the company has hurt their careers.Some are worried about the impact of their association with WeWork, employees tell Business Insider. This after the company's IPO ambitions imploded under <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employees-inside-adam-neumanns-wework-reveal-a-wild-culture-2019-9">a barrage of headlines about the hard-partying, tequila-drinking culture</a> created by founder and ousted CEO Adam Neumann - along with questions over its corporate governance, its business model, and self-dealing in the executive suite.But, as Business Insider previously reported, while Neumann was living large, employees under him were working long, hard hours.One current WeWork manager, who just celebrated his four-year-anniversary at the company, addressed this concern head-on when he offered to help those who were cut in the layoffs."Don't think for a second that the tumultuous headlines you've seen translate beyond the c-suite. There are a ton of driven, creative, entrepreneurial, resilient friends hitting the job market," wrote Jesse Ganes director architecture, product development and management on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6603447223424425984/">a LinkedIn post on Thursday</a>. Ganes declined further comment.Many WeWork employees have been looking for new jobs for months, ever since the company started warning them that big layoffs were coming. Those layoffs began in earnest this week, with the company saying that it currently has plans to cut 2,400 people. WeWork is also transferring about 1,000 janitorial and facilities management staff off its payroll to roles with a contractor.One person who worked for WeWork in New York on special programs told Business Insider that getting a new job offer wasn't hard, but that the offers were for reduced salaries than the WeWork job."Everyone knows where we are so the lowball offers are coming strong. It's like a drip campaign, everyone knows that everyone applying who works at WeWork can be lowballed," this person said.<h2>A Blind survey</h2>A survey of WeWork employees <a href="https://www.teamblind.com/search/WeWork">on Blind</a> conducted for Business Insider found that others share these sentiments. Blind is the anonymous chat app for employees that <a href="https://www.teamblind.com/faqs">validates work email addresses</a> but does not reveal the person behind the username.In a survey of 230 respondents, 38% said they worried that negative perception toward the company would hurt their career. This also means that 62% were not concerned. About half the people who responded said they feared that layoffs would impact them.Likewise, 132 people responded to a poll asking them if working at WeWork would negatively impact their compensation from their next employer. 68% of respondents were actively looking for a new job, and 30% said they were, in fact, worried about lowball offers.Interestingly, that worry was more intense for folks with non-tech job roles, 34%, versus the 26% for who had tech roles. Demand remains high for skilled programmers and IT professionals. Equally interestingly, 81% of the people with tech roles said they were actively seeking a new job.WeWork did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Are you an insider with insight to share? Contact Julie Bort on encrypted chat app Signal at (970) 430-6112 using a non-work phone (no PR inquiries, please), or email at <a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com">jbort@businessinsider.com</a>. Open DMs on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Julie188">@Julie188.</a> <ul class="read-more-links"><li>Now read:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employees-inside-adam-neumanns-wework-reveal-a-wild-culture-2019-9">Sex, tequila, and a tiger: Employees inside Adam Neumann's WeWork talk about the nonstop party to attain a $100 billion dream and the messy reality that tanked it</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-booth-empty-kubecon-developers-conference-2019-11">People have noticed WeWork's 'sad' empty booth at a big software developer conference</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-layoffs-began-on-monday-sources-2019-11">WeWork layoffs began on Monday, sources say, with one person calling it a 'small mercy'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-toxic-phone-booths-were-created-by-wework-2019-10">WeWork's toxic phone booths were created in-house by its Powered by We business</a></li></ul><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=wework&amp;itm_campaign=40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019-2"></a>

Some WeWork employees believe working for the company has hurt their careers

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A former highly-paid executive at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/wework">WeWork</a> talked to Business Insider about his year there, which resulted in him deciding to sue the company.</li><li>Richard Markel landed at WeWork when it bought part of the construction company where he worked, owned by a WeWork executive's brother.</li><li>He was tasked with building a West Coast construction team until one day he says he came to work and found his calendar appointments had been cleared.</li><li>He describes a strange year and a "cultish" culture, filled with deep "spiritual" discussions, a mandatory all-employee boozy "summer camp" where employees slept in tents and then being tossed to the curb right before his stock options matured.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=hearst&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=allverticals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read all of Business Insider's WeWork coverage here</a>.</li></ul>In February 2019, Richard Markel was a flourishing WeWork executive, making roughly $300,000 per year as the company's vice president of West Coast construction, managing a team of 75.But when he came into work one morning, he discovered something odd.Another executive at the company named Lincoln Wood had apparently deleted all of Markel's recurring calendar appointments, essentially booting him out of his meetings.WeWork had hired Wood, who was twenty years younger than Markel, a few months prior. Wood had been given Markels' same job title. His role was vague, Markel says, and the two men didn't interact much. No one explained to Markel who had hired this would-be doppelganger or why, nor did they alter Markel's job duties, Markel tells Business Insider.In January, one month before the calendar deletion incident, Markel's boss stopped showing up for work. When Markel logged into the WeWork HR system Workday, he suddenly discovered that he now reported to Wood."I can honestly say, in all of my years of experience, this is the weirdest, most unprofessional treatment I've ever seen happen to anybody, literally anybody I've ever worked with," Markel says.Markel, an architect and licensed contractor in multiple states, spent a decade at renowned architecture firm Gensler then worked for years at various other industry heavyweights.Markel's request to be re-invited to meetings, he says, was ignored. By mid-February, he lodged a complaint with HR representative Katie Dufford. In March, he was still in limbo, unable to do his job but still employed.On April 10, just 20 days before his first stock options would vest, he was called into a meeting with Wood and Dufford where Markel says they fired him and blamed it on role elimination.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Markel, who was 62 when he was terminated, became one of a handful of former WeWork executives who sued the company claiming discrimination.&#xa0;WeWork categorically denies his claims, and Markel has currently withdrawn the lawsuit as he battles WeWork over&#xa0; jurisdiction. WeWork has also tried to push the suit, one of several discrimination lawsuits the company is facing, into private arbitration.The lawsuits come as WeWork <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wework-reportedly-postpones-ipo-lack-of-investor-interest-2019-9-1028529278">stumbles towards a planned IPO</a> that's been roiled by investor doubts about its business model, its valuation and its prospects for profitability. But the allegations in Markel's complaint also provide a remarkable peek into a bizarre company culture, seemingly driven by the whims and quirks of its founders, that's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-neumann-wework-constutition-president-2019-9">only likely to heighten concerns</a> about the fast-growing office sharing company.Markel says he loved WeWork until he was unceremoniously pushed aside. But it was also one of the oddest years of his life, marked by incidents that ranged from attending a mandatory weekend camp for employees, where he and thousands of other employees were forced to sleep in tents, to deep "spiritual" discussions led by cofounder Miguel McKelvey to an all hands meeting where CEO Adam Neumann held his children in his lap.The culture, he says, often created problems.&#xa0;<h2>A mandatory days-long party known as "camp"</h2>By far the strangest part of the WeWork culture was the mandatory week at "camp."All WeWork employees were required to attend the multi-day party known as camp and allowed to bring their partners. WeWork functions with a skeleton crew in its buildings during this time, Markel observed.The events were ostensibly for team building, but in reality it was a multi-day bacchanal that Markel said would give any "corporate lawyer" hives.&#xa0;"When you mix a bunch of 27-year-olds with raging hormones and unlimited amounts of alcohol, that you could literally have 24/7 provided free by the company, you're just going to have problems," he says.Markel attended the 2018 camp, held in London, with his wife. The 2017 camp was held in Eridge Park, UK and in prior years camp took place on an upstate New York property known as Raquette Lake Camps, owned by the family of one of WeWork's top executives, Mark Lapidus, cousin to Rebekah. (Lapidus left the company in 2018, <a href="https://therealdeal.com/2018/10/18/mark-lapidus-out-at-wework-amid-real-estate-leadership-shakeup/">The Real Deal reported</a>.)By the end of 2018, WeWork had about 9,500 employees, Markel said, so a mandatory all-hands in the UK was an expensive shindig.&#xa0;&#xa0;"There was no business aspect, no training, for example," he said. While camp did include some presentations from executives where attendance was voluntary, including Adam Neumann, the daily roster was filled with activities like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmtbTpbgFmH/">meditation sessions</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmwUyEGgwVo/">rock wall climbing</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmopBbyHMlL/">pottery,</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnY35mHnPAs/">archery</a>, a trapeze, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BnOnUATBvKO/">a roller disco</a>,&#xa0; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmnGoraB70_/">canoeing</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BX80Lc5Fzc-/">cocktail making</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm510gUgrZZ/">whiskey tasting,</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmnnPvsh2Ki/">crafts,</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BmSxo1xlLYg/">yoga</a> and more.Employees, including Markel and his wife, slept in tents. They froze at night, Markel said.The days consisted of various fun activities and talks by speakers on topics like the earth and the environment; the evenings brought concerts from big-name performers.For instance, in 2017, WeWork employees were treated to a weekend of private concerts from the Crystal Fighters, Florence and the Machine and Two Door Cinema Club, according to employees' social media posts from the event.&#xa0; In 2018, Lorde played. WeWork says that it has canceled the camp program and that 2018, the year Markel attended, was the last year.WeWork offices have long been known for having free beer and wine (in 2018 the company ended the "unlimited" aspect), and Markel said he didn't see people at work abusing the perk. But at camp, it was a different story. The booze flowed freely and the 20-somethings indulged with predictable results that ranged from obnoxious behavior to hook-ups.WeWork hired licensed bartenders and, starting in 2016, as employee numbers began to skyrocket, issued RFID wrist bands to "track alcohol consumption," according to a source familiar with camp operations.&#xa0;The backdrop for the festivities was WeWork's rapid growth: During Markel's time at WeWork the company's headcount swelled from 5,500 to 9,500 people.&#xa0;WeWork created an exciting atmosphere full of feel-good talk, alcohol and camp.<h2>A long, strange year</h2>Markel enjoyed the work for most of his year at WeWork, describing it as fast-paced and exciting. but he found the WeWork culture to be "cultish ... to a pretty extreme degree."&#xa0;WeWork advocated "being kind to the earth" and is, for example, eliminating the use of all plastics in its facilities, a policy many employees, including Markel, applaud.WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey's role was like the "cultural/spiritual leader" of the company, Markel describes.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>McKelvey hosts a bi-monthly fireside chat where he meets with 30 or so senior executives. The hour-long chats typically involved McKelvey sharing his views on topics like how to "build resilience" or "creating space to ask for and receive," as well as describing his vision for the company. The chats would often become deep discussions on morality and personal views. Many executives, including Markel, enjoyed these fireside chats.&#xa0;Rebekah Neumann, the wife of CEO Adam Neumann and a WeWork cofounder, was also thought of as a "spiritual" leader and talked to the whole company from time to time, particularly about social projects. She was known inside the companies for projects such as her school WeGrow.Markel described <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-rebekah-neumann-adam-gwyneth-paltrow-energy-goop-2019-9">Neumann as a very visible, clearly important person</a>, even though few people seemed to understand what her actual responsibilities were.Adam Neumann also hosts mandatory all-hands company meetings to discuss the company's business strategy. One time, he did the broadcast with his kids on his lap. As homey as this sounds, some employees found it to be "weird" especially given that WeWork's fast growth meant that a lot of employees worked long hours. The feeling was that the CEO was hanging with his family while everyone else was still at the office.Then there were other policies, like WeWork's famous ban on expensing meat meals, that Markel said were problematic given the real estate industry WeWork operates in. Hosting no-meat-allowed business dinners in the construction world was difficult at best, he said.Neumann was not very hands on regarding the construction work. He only met with Markel, the person building and running his 75-person West Coast construction team, twice in that year Markel worked there, Markel told us.&#xa0;"I did meet Adam Neumann personally twice while in San Francisco but we never interacted on business projects," is how Markel described it.<h2>Three brothers and an acquisition</h2>Proximity to Neumann, who controls all the voting power, can open all sorts of doors at the company.In fact, it was Neumann's connection to a New York construction firm owned by three brothers that brought Markel to WeWork in the first place.&#xa0;Granit Gjonbalaj, who was hired in 2015 as WeWork's head of global construction, was known to be a close member of Neumann's inner circle. His family's construction firm, owned by Granit and his brothers Albert and Jimmy, was hired to handle significant amounts of WeWork's building renovations - as much as 90% or all WeWork projects in New York, Boston and Washington DC at one point.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>In March, 2018, WeWork bought the part of the Gjonbalaj family company handling WeWork's projects. A source familiar with the deal described it as an "acqui-hire." About 150 people, including Markel, went to work for WeWork directly.After the deal, Granit's brothers took senior management jobs at WeWork's in-house construction unit. But they also continued to work at the part of UA Builders that had not been acquired by WeWork, sources told Business Insider. And then, less than a year after they joined, Albert and Jimmy Gjonbalaj quietly left WeWork.&#xa0;Sources tell us that Albert and Jimmy have now spun up a new construction company with plans to once again sell construction services to WeWork through this new company. Neither Albert nor Jimmy responded to Business Insider's requests for comment and Granit forwarded our request to the We Co's PR team. The Gjonbalaj brothers business relationship with We is one of many family-member business entanglements among We executives.<h2>A credibility gap</h2>WeWork's dealings with the construction firm are among many unorthodox business practices that have surprised investors. WeWork's IPO prospectus details how Neumann sold the trademark for the words "We" to his own company for nearly $6 million (Neumann promised to return the money after reports of the arrangement caused an outcry).WeWork is also facing other lawsuits from former executives. Lisa Bridges, former senior vice president and head of compensation, filed a complaint in June alleging sexual discrimination. And former director of culture Ruby Anaya, sued last October, alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination.Markel's surreal experience with a disappearing calendar, an unannounced colleague bearing his own job title, and his eventual dismissal underscore what he says is a fundamental disconnect between the company's words and its actions.&#xa0;"The problem that I had is, if you talk the talk and don't walk the walk, then there's a serious credibility gap there," Markel said."For example, I was totally on-board with some of the social aspects. I'm personally a meat eater, but I'm married to a vegetarian. It's all very reasonable and their heart's in the right place. But the way I was treated was so professionally repugnant, so unprofessional, so that it was almost like, 'Hey WeWork, is everything you say bullsh*t?'"Are you a WeWork insider with insight to share? We want to hear it: email&#xa0;<a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">jbort@businessinsider.com</a>, message @Julie188 on Twitter, or reach out on Signal.<div> </div><div> </div><div> </div>

A former WeWork executive who made $300,000 and is now suing describes strange cult-like culture, including endless flows of alcohol at mandatory sleepover camp for employees and the CEO's children on his lap during an all-hands meeting

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Reuters/Shannon StapletonThe Lord &amp; Taylor building in Manhattan that Amazon is reportedly eyeing for office space.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The Lord and Taylor building in midtown Manhattan, owned by a real estate fund linked to WeWork, is a symbol of the co-working company's grand ambitions gone unchecked.</li><li>Purchased in late 2017, the building was an ambitious bet for WeWork's brash and charismatic founder Adam Neumann. WeWork planned to lease the space and turn it into a global headquarters. </li><li>The landmark property is still under construction, but as WeWork slashes thousands of jobs - eliminating the need for a new headquarters - and faces a difficult financial future after shelving its IPO, the building's future is in doubt.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-latest-wework-news-2019-6">For more WeWork stories, click here.</a></li></ul>On a recent autumn day in New York, construction sounds drifted out of the Lord &amp; Taylor building on Fifth Avenue. Contractors in yellow vests clustered outside a green-painted plywood wall encasing the ground floor. The location, spanning the block between 38th and 39th Street, is the site of an audacious renovation to restore the Italianate structure to an earlier grace.But it's also a symbol of grand ambitions gone unchecked. The building is owned by a real estate fund linked to WeWork, and the coworking startup has leased the entirety of its nearly 700,000 square feet. The lead banker <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-ipo-fiasco-adam-neumann-explained-events-timeline-2019-9">for the company's failed IPO holds the mortgage</a>. One need look no further than this trophy asset at the heart of New York's real estate scene to understand the company's current fate. Lord &amp; Taylor opened its flagship location at 424 Fifth Avenue in 1914, with <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=10781998&amp;fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjIwNTkwMjgyLCJpYXQiOjE1NzA3Mzc3NDYsImV4cCI6MTU3MDgyNDE0Nn0.OpgFcpq37-_MLALMu2YUpSBYqlBQ9JIzSFWe4Kom3oI">the New York Times touting</a> its "artistic architecture as a business asset." The building retains some of its original features, including crown molding and "original wood floors with amazing structure," according to two sources who were involved in the recent deal.See more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employees-inside-adam-neumanns-wework-reveal-a-wild-culture-2019-9">Sex, tequila, and a tiger: Employees inside Adam Neumann's WeWork talk about the nonstop party to attain a $100 billion dream and the messy reality that tanked it</a>In September 2006, Lord &amp; Taylor and its 12-floor flagship store was sold to a retail developer and owner of the Hudson's Bay Company as part of a 37-property sale. The developer was founded by Richard Baker, now Hudson's Bay chairman.<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image">Carlo Allegri/ReutersLord &amp; Taylor's flagship store closing sale</div></div>WeWork entered the picture in 2017 with a deal <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171024005878/en/HBC-WeWork-Enter-Global-Multi-Faceted-Strategic-Relationship">announced</a> in October of that year by Lord &amp; Taylor parent Hudson's Bay. A source who was involved in the deal talks called them "friendly." It was just one part of a broader partnership for somewhat surprising bedfellows: one a 21st-century real estate startup looking to open offices in <keyword id="46801" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="prime">prime</keyword> locations and the other, a retailer with struggling brands and choice properties that claims to be the oldest company in North America. WeWork agreed to lease the entire space with plans to fashion some of it into its global headquarters and allow Lord &amp; Taylor to reoccupy about a quarter of it for a slimmed down ground floor retail store. WeWork would lease space in other Hudson's Bay buildings, including its flagship on Queen Street in Toronto, and two more in Vancouver and Frankfurt. The purchase would be made with WeWork's property fund, a joint venture with an investment fund run by a board member, Rhone Capital's Steven Langman, to purchase properties that WeWork could lease. Rhone took a stake in Hudson's Bay as part of the deal. <h2>'A chance to conquer'</h2>Perhaps most importantly, the landmark purchase was the most ambitious yet for WeWork's brash and charismatic founder Adam Neumann. "For someone like Adam, this is a chance to conquer, to capture a big deal and make a statement," a person who worked on the deal told Business Insider. He paid up to do so. WeWork Property Advisors offered <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/wework-the-workspace-giant-wants-to-be-its-own-landlord-using-other-investors-money-1526212801">$150 million</a> more for the Lord &amp; Taylor building than what commercial property giant Brookfield Property Partners was reportedly prepared to pay, according to the Wall Street Journal. The $850 million purchase price was a 30% premium to where it had been appraised just a year before.<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image">Mark Matousek/Business Insider</div></div>For Neumann, an Israeli Navy veteran unafraid to think big, it was an opportunity to push the company he founded in 2010 past its coworking roots and into retail, where an industry struggling to compete against the likes of Amazon was sitting on real estate in prime locations. "WeWork's role in this big trend will be to reimagine and reshape places so as to foster collaboration, innovation and creativity," the founder and then-CEO said in the statement announcing the deal. "Retail is changing and the role that real estate has to play in the way that we shop today must change with it. The opportunity to develop this partnership with HBC to explore this trend was too good to pass up."The tenant eventually signed a 20-year lease starting at $105 per square foot, with annual increases and a 15-year guarantee that WeWork would pay. Current midtown rents averaged about $88 a square foot in the second quarter, a new quarterly high, according to brokerage firm CBRE. See more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-nightmare-ipo" data-analytics-position="2">How WeWork spiraled from a $47 billion valuation to talk of bankruptcy in just 6 weeks</a>Nonetheless, that would be enough to convince JPMorgan, then angling for a spot on the startup's highly anticipated public offering, to sign off on a mortgage whose balance stood at $389 million in February, according to public records. In total, WeWork lined up $900 million in financing from JPMorgan, Starwood Property Trust and others, according to real estate data provider Real Capital Analytics.WeWork, which scrapped its IPO last month and ousted Neumann, is now on the hook for about $74 million in annual lease payments than will step up over the next 15 years. Representatives for Neumann, WeWork, JPMorgan Chase, Rhone Capital and Hudson's Bay declined to comment on the record for this story.<h2>'All smoke and mirrors'</h2>But in 2017, WeWork looked like it could do no wrong. Hudson's Bay chairman Baker sold the deal by saying it would bring an additional 6,000 to 8,000 people by the firm's store, with customers getting access to WeWork's member platform. WeWork employees would get exclusive access to clothing sales with Lord &amp; Taylor, a brand more synonymous with an older generation than the millennials who frequent WeWork's spaces. "The original plan to keep Lord &amp; Taylor in the Fifth Ave building was all smoke and mirrors," the person who worked on the deal said. "It was never going to happen."The deal featured the types of conflicts that would later help derail WeWork's IPO. For one, WeWork sat on both sides of the deal, as an investor in the fund, with control of the management team, and as the tenant.In theory, the property fund made sense: as WeWork brought its industrial chic design approach to buildings, their value would increase. It had happened in the past. And the real estate fund could enjoy some of that appreciation. In the end, outside investors contributed much of the money the fund would eventually manage. See more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-adam-neumanns-family-office-did-a-deal-with-pcs-2019-10" data-analytics-position="2">Adam Neumann lent money to phone distributor PCS Wireless this spring, showing how his family office is investing beyond startups</a>But there was more: Rhone Capital agreed to invest $500 million into Hudson's Bay Company as part of the deal, further tying the three entities together. Langman and WeWork exec Eric Gross joined HBC's board. And earlier this year, Baker proposed taking Hudson's Bay private, counting himself, WeWork's property fund, and Rhone as holders of a combined 57% stake and further entangling the co-working company in activities outside its core mission. It took a long time for the Lord &amp; Taylor transaction to close. The October 2017 press release initially said it would close no later than August 10, 2018, with the renovation work beginning after that year's Christmas season. The parties haggled over terms and WeWork lined up financing through the end of 2017 and into 2018.On August 3, 2018, Hudson's Bay <a href="http://investor.hbc.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hbc-provides-update-lord-taylor-fifth-avenue-building-sale">announced an amendment</a> to the original agreement, extending the transaction closing date to November 13 and also disclosing options that would allow it to extend the closing date to February of the following year. The retailer said it collected an additional $25 million for extending the dates, and would collect another $25 million if the buyer asked to extend the closing date to January 2019. In November of 2018, Community Board 5, which oversees the district that includes the Lord &amp; Taylor building, took a hard look at WeWork's planned renovations. The board members, whose recommendations are non-binding, gave it a lukewarm response. The board's landmarks commission recommended <a href="https://www.cb5.org/cb5m/resolutions/2018-november/resolution_3/">denying</a> the proposal, citing the company's plan to alter one of the city's largest and most intact rooftop terraces in favor of a <a href="https://www.6sqft.com/first-look-at-the-glassy-rooftop-addition-bjarke-ingels-is-planning-for-the-lord-taylor-building/">two-story glass cube</a> perched above the building on dozens of skinny columns.<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Mark Matousek/Business Insider</div></div>The committee also withheld approval for signage on the building's Northeast corner that would replace "Lord &amp; Taylor" with a more WeWork-like "Do What You Love," according to a <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads/pdf/presentation-materials/20181120/424-Fifth-Ave-Lord&amp;Taylor.pdf">presentation</a> WeWork gave to the community board. Other signage requests showed the company was considering numerous tenants for the retail space, suggesting it had already moved on from the plan to have a Lord &amp; Taylor shop as the anchor, according to a person with knowledge of the presentation. In any event, WeWork showed little interest in considering the board's suggestions, the person said. Later that month, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads/pdf/Decisions/1931988.pdf">signed off</a> on the project despite the community board's reservations. The transaction finally closed in February 2019, and included a provision that gave Hudson's Bay a $125 million preferred equity interest in the building. Renovations were expected to cost $400 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. <h2>Outsize ambitions</h2>To date, WeWork has not moved into the building, and its headquarters remains in Chelsea. Even as work continues, the office company has looked for other options. Rumors circled earlier this year Amazon might lease the building for more than the price of WeWork's lease, either in whole or part. As WeWork explores options, it's also in talks with its largest investor, SoftBank, for another cash infusion, and with a collection of banks, including JPMorgan, for debt financing. Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-11/wework-is-said-to-discuss-5-billion-debt-package-with-lenders">reported</a> Friday that the financing package could be as big as $5 billion.See more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-used-disounts-to-convince-tenants-to-relocate-new-locations-2019-9" data-analytics-position="5">WeWork opened 400 locations in 3 years. In some cases, it used deep discounts to convince existing customers to relocate to help fill them.</a>JPMorgan's role shows how conflicted the bank has become -- if it chooses against lending to WeWork, the startup's property fund is more likely to default on its Lord &amp; Taylor building mortgage. It also holds mortgages on residential properties Neumann has bought.Two years after the deal was first inked, much of what was announced has failed to materialize. Lord &amp; Taylor will not take 150,000 square feet of retail space in the building - a source who was involved in the original negotiations said "those conversations ended pretty quickly." <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lord-and-taylor-flagship-store-after-sale-photos-2017-10">The retailer shuttered its flagship store</a> this January. And about those three Hudson's Bay locations where WeWork would lease space? So far, it has only announced plans for one, in Toronto, whcih is scheduled to open in November. And the company, which is set to lay off up to a quarter of its staff, has little need for a new headquarters. One executive who was involved with the original deal said the Lord &amp; Taylor building is representative of WeWork's outsize ambitions under Neumann. While the company, especially Neumann, wanted a trophy building to encourage future investments, the source said executives failed to anticipate the complexity of both the deal, with layers of options, warrants, and parties, and the overhaul of a landmark property.Despite the chaotic financial backdrop, construction crews are still at work on the building. They're peeling away drop-down ceilings that have obscured crown molding, working to transform the landmark retail building into the office of the future. Just who will sit in those seats, though, remains to be seen. Additional reporting by Alex Nicoll. Got a tip? Contact Meghan Morris on Signal at (646) 768-1627 or Dakin Campbell on Signal at (917) 673 9252 using a non-work phone, or email Morris at <a href="mailto:mmorris@businessinsider.com">mmorris@businessinsider.com</a> or Campbell at <a href="mailto:dcampbell@businessinsider.com">dcampbell@businessinsider.com</a>. (PR pitches by email only, please.) <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wework-ipo-valuation-money-coworking-office-space-real-estate-2019-9">WeWork went from a $47 billion valuation to a failed IPO. Here's how the company makes money.</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Inside WeWork's troubled Lord & Taylor building: A tale of outsized ambition, audacious renovations, and now financial worries

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_von_Neumann_ID_badge.png">en.wikipedia.org</a>John von Neumann's wartime badge photo from Los Alamos</div></div></div>Some would claim that smartest person of the twentieth century worked down the hall from Albert Einstein at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study.
John von Neumann, who was born in Budapest in 1903 and emigrated to the United States in 1930, was a seminal thinker in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann">mathematics (foundations of mathematics, functional analysis, ergodic theory, geometry, topology, and numerical analysis), physics (quantum mechanics, hydrodynamics, and fluid dynamics), economics (game theory), computing (Von Neumann architecture, linear programming, self-replicating machines, stochastic computing), and statistics</a>.
Von Neumann's prodigiousness was apparent from a young age. By <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#cite_note-10">eight</a> he could divide two eight-digit numbers in his head (try it for yourself: 59821734 / 27023453). By 19 he had published two major mathematical papers, and by 22 he had a Ph.D. in mathematics with minors in experimental physics and chemistry.
The Hungarian-American joined Princeton University in 1930 and was a professor there until his death in 1957. A loud and sociable character, he annoyed colleagues including Einstein with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#cite_note-85">his habit of blasting loud German marching music on his office gramophone</a>. During World War II, Von Neumann would join Einstein and other leading scientists in developing the atomic bomb in the Manhattan project.
Von Neumann was so bright that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner would say, "<a href="http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2012/03/only-he-was-fully-awake.html">only he was fully awake</a>." He had "the fastest mind" that economist Paul Samuelson had ever encountered and was "the cleverest man in the world" according to head of Britain's National Physical Laboratory, as noted by Daniel Yergin in "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Quest-Energy-Security-Remaking/dp/0143121944">The Quest</a>."
One of von Neumann's major accomplishments was his leadership in developing a way to make the enormous amount of calculations that went into making the atomic bomb. The earliest computers had to be "programmed" physically, with different components connected in different ways to solve a given problem. Von Neumann figured out instead how to store programs as software in computer memory, which would become <a href="http://www.csupomona.edu/~hnriley/www/VonN.html">the basic architecture for how modern computers work</a>.
He was also<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimax_theorem"> pioneer of game theory</a>, or the formal mathematical analysis of certain types of games, which has numerous applications to economics and other social sciences. Indeed, von Neumann's development of the theory of zero-sum games later led to his coming up with the Cold War strategy of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction#Two_Doomsday_Devices">Mutually Assured Destruction</a>.
Von Neumann also made numerous contributions to pure mathematics and physics. A big part of von Neumann's work in these areas was in developing the <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-nvd/">formal mathematical tools that describe quantum mechanics</a>. Many of the strange aspects of quantum mechanics are implied by the mathematical structures used to describe the behavior of the universe on the smallest scales.
But how did von Neumann compare to Einstein, the German-American theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity and some of the earliest ideas in quantum mechanics?
The answer, which as been <a href="http://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/von-neumann-or-einstein">hotly debated on economics forums</a>, favors von Neumann in some areas and Einstein in others. Certainly, Einstein obtained greater fame, however, and perhaps this is justified. <a href="http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2010/10/wigner-recollections.html">Wigner may have said it best</a>: "Einstein's understanding was deeper even than von Neumann's. His mind was both more penetrating and more original than von Neumann's. And that is a very remarkable statement."

This Hungarian-American Mathematician May Have Been Smarter Than Einstein

Hello, readers!Big mergers and acquisitions are team efforts. But at the very top, a battled-tested senior banker provides critical advice and connections that can determine a transaction's success or failure. Alex Morrell worked with financial data firm MergerLinks to publish our first-ever rainmakers list this week. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-20-ma-bankers-in-america-in-2019-2020-1">You can see rankings for the top 20 M&amp;A bankers for North American deals here</a>. Casey Sullivan wrote about how private-equity firms, long reliant on human judgment to pick investments and figure out how to generate the best returns, are finally starting to add formalized data-crunching to the mix. Still, it will likely be some time until we see an industry-wide revolution - as one recruiter put it, "you can't go from zero to artificial intelligence." <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-private-equity-firms-are-hiring-data-scientists-and-analysts-2020-2">Here's how 6 firms like Blackstone and Cerberus are building data-science teams - and what's holding some back from going all in.</a>Bradley Saacks and Dan DeFrancesco, our dynamic data duo, talked with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/two-sigma-goldman-citi-pumped-millions-struggling-data-startup-crux-2020-1">10 insiders to unpack a shakeup at Crux Informatics,</a> which is backed by $41 million from investors including Goldman Sachs, Citi and Two Sigma. The New York-based startup aimed at helping digest and process data has undergone big changes in both its technology and executive leadership. Dan also chatted with Tradeweb cofounder and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tradeweb-ceo-olesky-explains-the-electronic-marketplaces-2020-plans-2020-2">CEO Lee Olesky about what he sees as the next big opportunity</a> for the electronic marketplace operator. The next stage isn't just about growing the various marketplaces it already runs, but helping to facilitate more interaction between them, Olesky said. He said he's always seen Tradeweb as a type of search engine for customers to find the best price, counterparty, and way to perform a transaction.Meanwhile, Bradley reported that a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/citadel-portfolio-manager-prashanth-jayaram-is-planning-to-launch-2020-2">Citadel portfolio manager with a medical degree is going it alone</a> and launching his own healthcare-focused hedge fund. Seems like a timely move - despite the huge outflows facing the broader hedge fund industry, healthcare funds have been a bright spot where investors are still hoping to put more money in. We also had a fresh WeWork scoop from Meghan Morris. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weworks-enterprise-sales-leader-leaves-the-embattled-office-company-2020-2">WeWork's head of enterprise sales is out</a>, and the abrupt departure means a role that's key to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/read-wework-lays-out-five-year-plan-priorities-in-leaked-memo-2019-11">coworking giant's turnaround plan</a> is now vacant.Keep reading for more deep dives: we talked with six former colleagues of WeWork's incoming CEO to learn more about his leadership style; delved into the murky world of litigation finance; asked a Goldman psychologist about the stickiness factor when it comes to fintechs; and chatted with Interactive Brokers insiders to understand the firm's strategy when it comes to being a first mover. Have a great weekend!Meredith<a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/wall-st-insider&amp;hash=f4e91136c13f3c40c496d77bc7347502">If you aren't yet a subscriber to Wall Street Insider, you can sign up here.</a> Are there stories you'd like to see more of, or new areas you'd like to read about? My line is open - <a href="mailto:mmazzilli@businessinsider.com">mmazzilli@businessinsider.com</a>.<h3>$35 billion fintech Stripe just inked a deal with hospitality PoS-maker Lightspeed - and it's a case study in navigating the tricky world of payments</h3>Montreal-based point-of-sale software company Lightspeed announced a new partnership with the buzzy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stripe-raises-250-million-35-billion-valuation-2019-9">$35 billion startup Stripe</a> last week.But Lightspeed's Stripe partnership, which will power Lightspeed's online and in-store payments offering, isn't so cut-and-dry. Behind the scenes, payments are complicated with a multi-pronged network of players on the value chain. There are layers of processors, facilitators, and, ultimately, both online and in-store checkouts that the end consumers see. Payments related to the sale of CBD, gambling, or adult entertainment, for example, are restricted from the Stripe platform. Stripe explains that given their partnerships with financial institutions like Visa and Mastercard, it needs to work within the requirements of those companies.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-stripes-lightspeed-partnership-means-for-the-world-of-payments-2020-2">READ MORE HERE&gt;&gt;</a><h3>WeWork's new CEO Sandeep Mathrani has to pull off one of the most difficult turnarounds Silicon Valley has ever seen. Insiders explain what he's like, and why he's the guy to do it.</h3>WeWork's incoming chief executive may be the antithesis of Adam Neumann, the coworking giant's cofounder and former CEO whose swirling charisma was at the center of the implosion of its planned initial public offering. Sandeep Mathrani, who spent years at a publicly traded mall company, doesn't like to drink with his colleagues after work or play ping pong in the office in the afternoon, former coworkers said. The engineer turned real-estate executive is more likely to be found interrogating colleagues about their data in presentations and has a knack for cutting operational costs. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/profile-of-new-wework-ceo-sandeep-mathrani-2020-2">READ MORE HERE&gt;&gt;</a><h3>Litigation finance has boomed into a $10 billion-plus business. Here's why a shadowy industry that dates back centuries is exploding.</h3>They met at a conference in Santa Monica a decade ago, and over dinner Jonathan Molot and Christopher Bogart, both lawyers, hatched an idea to provide outside funding for lawsuits, a practice that had largely been forbidden for decades, even centuries, in some countries.Funding lawsuits has its roots in the feudal era when the wealthy could financially back another person's legal action in return for a share of any winnings. Champerty, as it is called, and similar ways of profiting from lawsuits were later outlawed in England. Later, many US states had the same or a similar prohibition. But in recent years, such funding barriers have been weakened.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/size-of-litigation-finance-industry-how-it-work-2020-2">READ MORE HERE &gt;&gt;</a><h3>A Goldman Sachs psychologist breaks down why customers stay loyal to old institutions over buzzy banking startups - and reveals the mental barriers fintechs need to tackle</h3>The concept of "stickiness," or customers' tendency to stay with the brands to which they've long been tied, can pose a challenge to new players looking to gain market share in financial services.We spoke with Patrick Perkins, a psychologist and managing director at Goldman Sachs who oversees executive coaching there, about the ways fintechs and incumbents can think about design and brand loyalty as new options crowd the space."The bar is very high for people to actually make significant changes in their financial choices, because they're more motivated to really stick with what they know," Perkins said. "They're more motivated to minimize that chance of a loss and retain their sense of power and control."<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fintechs-can-measure-brand-loyalty-market-share-2020-2">READ MORE HERE&gt;&gt;</a><h3>Interactive Brokers has upended Wall Street time and again. Its cofounder explains how causing chaos is key to staying competitive in a cut-throat industry.</h3>Interactive Brokers, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based brokerage, has led the way during several phases of the industry's fiercely competitive war over price and capabilities that's played out in recent months. Senior leaders from the firm, including chairman Thomas Peterffy, spoke with Business Insider recently about their strategy - and what comes next.Their products have been replicated time after time in this cutthroat industry, they're quick to note, and they say they are concerned about tipping off competitors with much talk of future plans. "We are basically computer programmers. We are not experts of finance," Peterffy told us. "What we lack in expertise in finance we make up in our technology expertise."<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interactive-brokers-ceo-insiders-on-strategy-zero-commissions-2020-2">READ MORE HERE&gt;&gt;</a><h2>Fintech and proptech</h2>Samantha Lee/Business Insider<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ubs-adds-features-redesigns-wealth-management-app-for-us-clients-2020-2">UBS is overhauling its iPhone app for wealth management clients - and it shows how the biggest wealth players are playing catch-up with Netflix-like personalization</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/15-startups-that-are-developing-cutting-edge-software-for-architects-2020-2">Architecture software startups are looking to disrupt the design process with VR and machine learning - industry insiders say these are the 15 startups to watch</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-who-has-funded-smart-lock-and-doorbell-makers-2020-2">11 top smart-doorbell and smart-lock brands - and the big money behind tech that's fueled privacy concerns</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ey-executive-challenger-banks-chime-monzo-n26-neobanks-2020-2">3 things digital banks like Chime, Monzo, and N26 need to avoid while battling fierce competition in a make-or-break year</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/funding-rounds-and-customers-for-fraud-prevention-startups-2020-2">The boom in online payments has companies like Airbnb, OkCupid, and Nordstrom looking for new ways to fight fraud. Here are 10 startups - and the VCs backing them - helping tackle everything from catfishing to money laundering.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ramp-startup-corporate-card-keith-rabois-brex-2020-2">A startup that's raised $25 million from Keith Rabois and Coatue is going up against $2.6 billion Brex and pitching itself as the Honey of corporate cards</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-cities-banning-cashless-businesses-winners-losers-cashless-economy-2020-2">The dream of a cashless society is a nightmare for some. Here's why cities across the US are banning cashless businesses and who's taking which side.</a></li></ul><h2>Money and investing </h2>Hollis Johnson/Business Insider<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ray-dalios-bridgewater-projects-that-an-asian-bloc-be-insular-2020-2">$160 billion hedge fund Bridgewater is projecting that a group of Asian countries will blow past Europe and the US to own a majority of global stocks in 15 years</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/merrill-lynch-new-national-business-development-role-reporting-andy-sieg-2020-2">Wealth management giant Merrill Lynch wants its worst-performing markets to catch up and just created a new role to oversee their progress</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-fund-elliott-hires-exec-to-lead-changes-at-portfolio-companies-2020-1">Hedge fund giant Elliott is looking more like a buyout shop as it brings in a BlueMountain exec to head up a new group tasked with overseeing portfolio companies</a></li></ul> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-shiller-narrative-economics-compelling-stories-disrupt-2020-1">Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller explains how compelling stories are what really shape our economy - from bitcoin to Trump's presidency</a></h3>

You Searched For "neumann architecture" and got 10 results

IISc scientist develops material that can help computers mimic brain-like functions

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Ousted WeWork CEO Adam Neumann 'is a great entrepreneur,' says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Julie Bort

'It seems insane now' - WeWork employees bought into cofounder Adam Neumann's vision but grew worried as red flags mounted

Theron Mohamed

The founder of a startup bought by WeWork describes how he almost destroyed his 7-year-old company's culture in the span of 24 hours over one simple mistake

Grace Kay

WeWork has acquired 21 startups in the last four years, from a college messaging service to a real estate investing app. Here's everything WeWork has bought.

Megan Hernbroth

Some WeWork employees believe working for the company has hurt their careers

Julie Bort

A former WeWork executive who made $300,000 and is now suing describes strange cult-like culture, including endless flows of alcohol at mandatory sleepover camp for employees and the CEO's children on his lap during an all-hands meeting

Julie Bort

Inside WeWork's troubled Lord & Taylor building: A tale of outsized ambition, audacious renovations, and now financial worries

Dakin Campbell,Meghan Morris

This Hungarian-American Mathematician May Have Been Smarter Than Einstein

Gus Lubin,Andy Kiersz

Private equity's data-hiring push; The top M&A bankers, ranked; Tradeweb's next move

Meredith Mazzilli

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