Embracing Judaism helped WeWork founder Adam Neumann cope, his mother says

Leaving WeWork “is a happy end, because Adam is happy with his wife and five children."

OCTOBER 27, 2019 06:24

People visit the booth of WeWork as they attend the TechCrunch Disrupt event in Manhattan, in New York City, NY, U.S. May 15, 2017. (photo credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS) — People visit the booth of WeWork as they attend the TechCrunch Disrupt event in Manhattan, in New York City, NY, U.S. May 15, 2017.

(photo credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS)

WeWork founder Adam Neumann may have recently been forced out of the shared workspace company he created due to his erratic behavior, but he has found religion and joined Chabad, his mother Dr. Avivit Neumann told 103FM.

“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,” she told Ayala Hasson-Nesher in an interview earlier this week.

Leaving WeWork “is a happy end, because Adam is happy with his wife and five children.

“He has been a religiously observant Jew for three years,” his mother said. “The first time I saw him lay tefillin, I nearly fell on the floor, and he got very insulted. In general, however, I respect his connection to religion. It added to a dimension that he has had always.”

The entrepreneur, an Israeli-born IDF veteran, stepped down as CEO of his shared workspace company in September, and was bought out of the company by the Japanese firm, SoftBank, on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on October 22 that SoftBank will buy out Neumann for $1.7 billion while Neumann continues as a consultant, receiving fees of nearly $200 million.

WeWork is now valued at $8 billion, far below the $47 billion Neumann had hoped to receive in a Wall Street IPO. Neumann was forced out for rumored alcohol and drug use. The former CEO was also known for making bombastic statements on a variety of topics – he said he wanted to bring WeWork to Mars, that he planned to become the first trillionaire and “president of the world” – and that he enriched himself by trademarking the WeWork name and licensing it to the company.

His mother, an oncologist at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, said she has turned to her wealthy son for donations in recent years.

She also added that when he was a child and she was working in a hospital in Yeruham, he would visit her and meet her patients.

“He always saw people suffering,” she said. “All of my children grew up in oncology clinics all over the world. I didn’t conceal suffering from them, and my children really enjoy life.”

Neumann spoke at a UJA-Federation event in New York in 2018 and said that he had begun observing the Jewish Sabbath with his family, which he “highly recommended.”

His mother said she was pleased that the controversy over his stewardship at WeWork was over.

“I am happy that now, he will have time for his family,” she said.