If there’s been one benefit from living through a pandemic it’s the realisation that ‘office work’ doesn’t necessarily have to be done in an actual office. Millions of people, all around the world, have enjoyed the benefits of working from home. Happy with the increased flexibility this affords and being able to wear whatever they like. However, as a long-term solution it can be lonely and isolating. Almost prescient, WeWork was created with this in mind, bringing likeminded young people together into the same workspaces.
Co-founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork was created to provide flexible shared office space for new technology start-ups and services in New York. The former became the public face and charismatic figurehead of an organisation which expanded at a blistering pace. The company was hailed as a great success and began branching out into other real estate markets. However, as WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn illustrates some things are just too good to be true.
Through interviews with former staff and using archive footage WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn takes us behind the scenes of a success story which was too good to be true. Along the way we’re reminded of the dangers of personality cults and the pitfalls of unfettered power. Jed Rothstein’s film is a cautionary tale which reaffirms the truism that people who fly too close to the sun often experience a sudden and rapid fall.
WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn is available on demand from 13 August.
