Disgraced WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s 11-acre California estate shaped like a guitar has sold for $22.4 million, 10 months after it was first put on the market with a $27.5 million price tag.
The sprawling seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate in Corte Madera, located 15 miles north of the San Francisco Bay Area, was snapped up by a mystery bidder on March 12, according to the New York Post.
Its sale comes as Neumann, 41, has been offloading his property portfolio over the last year, including his luxury Hamptons farmhouse and Westchester County estate, in the wake of his dramatic fall from grace and ousting from the company he co-founded back in 2010.
The eccentric businessman’s unraveling came in 2019 as the company’s hotly-anticipated IPO failed and reports surfaced that he had cashed millions out of the company in the months prior.
Since then, employees have spoken out about the ‘cult-like’ environment at WeWork and the behavior of its so-called ‘partyer in chief’ which included smoking marijuana on private jets and trying to become immortal.
Neumann’s wealth has reportedly plummeted from as much as $14 billion at the height of his unicorn business’s reign to around $750 million, according to Forbes, and he and his wife Rebekah have fled the drama with a move to Israel.
Disgraced WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann’s 11-acre California estate shaped like a guitar has sold for $22.4 million, 10 months after it was first put on the market with a $27.5 million price tag
A view inside the music studio above decked out with speakers, a recording booth and plenty of space for instruments. It is shaped like a guitar earning the home its nickname
The 800 Corte Madera Avenue property is known as the ‘Guitar House’ because the mansion has a living room shaped like the musical instrument
The eccentric businessman’s unraveling came in 2019 as the company’s hotly-anticipated IPO failed and reports surfaced that he had cashed millions out of the company in the months prior
With his wealth dwindling and an ongoing legal battle with Softbank over the failed IPO, the sale of the Corte Madera will no doubt be welcome news to the former CEO.
Neumann first listed the 12,500 square foot property, which sits on 10.8 acres of land, for $27.5million in August.
It languished on the market enabling the lucky new owner to knock a princely sum of $5.1 million off the original asking price.
But Neumann has still bagged a handsome profit of $1 million after he initially paid $21.4 million for the property back in 2018.
The Corte Madera home is known as the ‘Guitar House’ because the mansion’s music room is shaped like the musical instrument.
The main home boasts seven bedrooms and 10,000 square foot of living space as well as a gourmet chef’s kitchen and office space.
The home is perfect for entertaining with a home theater and billiards room and a bar and a spacious two bedroom, two bathroom guesthouse for visitors.
The expansive property boasts high ceilings and plenty of windows for natural, sunny light to enter the home
The luxurious home was designed by architect Sim Van der Ryn and was formerly owned by the late music producer Bill Graham
Cavernous hallways and modern architectural features make this home one of a kind, located just 15 miles north of San Francisco
The home features seven bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms and an expansive back patio perfect for watching the sunset
An aerial view of the expansive property that features an orchard, garden and tennis court above
Within its acres of land, there is a pool, cabana with its own kitchen and half bathroom, water slide, racquetball court, and organic gardens and an orchard.
The new owner can also live off grid and self-sufficiently thanks to the sprawling estate’s personal water well, solar and geothermal systems, greenhouse, vegetable and herb gardens, chicken coop and bee harvesting farm.
The property, sold by Compass, is based in the California town of Corte Madera, home to less than 10,000 people with an average household income of $147,587.
The sale of the property took place just days before the release of documentary ‘WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn’ on Hulu, portraying the controversial boss as a ‘manipulative cult leader’.
It marks the latest sale of Neumann’s real estate after he amassed an impressive portfolio within a decade of founding WeWork along with wife Rebekah and Miguel McKelvey in 2010.
Within less than a decade the co-working firm had become the most valuable start-up in the US and he and Rebekah had spent around $80 million buying at least five luxury properties across the US.
He purchased the estate for $21.4million in 2018. It’s just one of the many properties he owned across the country before offloading them
A view of an airy, tranquil bedroom above with an attached terrace for soaking up the sun and stunning scenery
Stay a while! A sitting area in the home offers breathtaking views of the nearby mountains and woods
The home boasts seven bedrooms, a pool, water slide, home theatre, racquetball court, and organic gardens and an orchard
In March 2020, Neumann sold his luxury Hamptons getaway at an almost-$500,000 loss, with the deal closing for $1.25million seven years after he bought the home for $1.7 million in December 2012.
The Water Mill farmhouse, built in 1994, boasted a 1.42 acre lot and four bedrooms with breathtaking views overlooking 170 acres of agricultural reserves and scenic easements.
Neumann then sold his Westchester County estate for close to its asking price of $3.39 million in August.
The Colonial property in upstate New York counts Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart as neighbors and features five bedrooms and five bathrooms within its 6,000 square foot space.
He also put his luxury Manhattan home on the market last February, with a $37.5 million price tag.
The Neumanns completely redesigned the duplex apartment in Manhattan’s elite Gramercy neighborhood, buying four apartments in the 1920s condo building, including its penthouse, in 2017 and merging them into a massive three-story apartment.
The New York City is still on the market more than a year later.
From the bathroom the new owner can take in the sprawling views across the California countryside
A view of a TV room in the house pictured above, perfect for big groups and entertaining with views of the lush gardens
The house features many rooms that lead into the outdoors, creating a unique open oasis for residents
Life’s a ball! A view of the racquetball court inside of the home above, making it perfect for active families
It also features a music studio/home theatre and spacious two bedroom, two bathroom guesthouse
The shrinking of Neumann’s property portfolio comes as his wealth has reportedly dwindled following his abrupt exit from WeWork.
WeWork was founded in 2010 as a company offering co-working space for smaller businesses and self-employed workers.
In 2019, Neumann filed the company’s hotly-anticipated IPO paperwork, leading to a closer inspection of the inner workings of the unicorn business.
Reports surfaced that Neumann had cashed $700 million out of the company shortly before the IPO and employees spoke out about his eccentric behavior.
This saw the company’s value plummet to less than $8billion from $47billion, IPO plans were shelved and Neumann stepped down as CEO that September, amid claims the board was planning to oust him.
Hurun Global Rich List said that Neumann’s wealth plunged by 80 percent or $100 million every single week between January 2019 and January 2020 as the scandal escalated.
After the botched attempt to go public, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank agreed to bail out WeWork in a $3 billion tender offer, saving it from financial collapse.
The expansive deck offers various places to sit and lounge and enjoy the great outdoors with stunning nature views
The home includes a waterslide and massive pool as well as a guest house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms
For those with the green thumb! The home also has expansive gardens and orchards for plant lovers
At night the estate becomes a dreamy oasis offering unique views of the surrounding mountains and woods
The home also includes sparkling cityscape views of San Francisco and the iconic Golden Gate bridge
The deal would have allowed the bank to buy shares of WeWork at an agreed upon price last year, with the money going to current and former employee shareholders, outside shareholders and Neumann.
Neumann would have sold nearly $970million of his WeWork shares to Softbank and receive cash payments of $185million.
But SoftBank backed out of the deal saying WeWork didn’t meet the conditions of its contract and cited legal inquiries by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Neumann filed a lawsuit against Softbank for deserting the deal accusing the investor of breaching its contract and ‘secretly taking actions to undermine’ the agreement with the controversial boss then locked in a bitter legal battle.
This year, it emerged that WeWork is now planning to go public in a special purpose acquisition company merger that will value it at around $9 billion – far less than its onetime $47 billion valuation.
Meanwhile, further details about Neumann’s behavior have emerged since his ousting.
Its sale comes as Neumann, 41, has been offloading his property portfolio over the last year, including his luxury Hamptons farmhouse above
The luxury Hamptons hideaway boasts a large heated swimming pool and small cottage, a previous listing shows
Neumann then sold his Westchester County estate (above) for close to its asking price of $3.39 million in August
Neumann and his wife Rebekah have moved to Israel in the wake of the WeWork scandal and are offloading their homes
Neumann’s former chief of staff Medina Bardhi accused him and the company of discrimination, saying she feared for the health of her unborn baby because of Neumann’s penchant for smoking marijuana on chartered planes.
She also said she was replaced by a man making more than twice her salary when she took maternity leave. WeWork said it would contest the claims.
A new book released last October also detailed Neumann’s booze-fueled antics as head of the troubled start-up.
In August 2018, he treated himself to an alcohol supply that ‘could have covered most of an entry-level WeWork salary’ during a lavish company retreat, according to Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Fall of WeWork by Reeves Wiedeman.
The three-day retreat near London included a performance by Lorde and motivational speeches by Deepak Chopra, Wiedeman wrote.
While every other attendee slept on an air mattress in a tent, Neumann and his wife, Rebekah, slept in a ‘tent-house suite’ with A/C and heating, a king bed and four twin beds, several fridges, fire bowls and eight picnic tables.
