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> In another meeting, Neumann said three people were going to save the world: bin Salman, Jared Kushner, and Neumann. Shortly after the news broke in October 20

> In another meeting, Neumann said three people were going to save the world: bin Salman, Jared Kushner, and Neumann. Shortly after the news broke in October 2018 that Saudi agents tortured dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and carved his body with a bone saw, likely on order from the crown prince himself, Neumann told George W. Bush’s former national security adviser Stephen Hadley that everything could be worked out if bin Salman had the right mentor. Confused, Hadley asked who that person might be, according to a source familiar with the meeting. Neumann paused for a moment and said: “Me.”

harry8 7y ago
Look I want to put the boot into silicon valley snake oil salesmen and billionaire assholes as much if not more than most here but this troubles me a little. None of this kind of story before his fall from grace and now here it all is. So I guess we don't get it reported if his snakeoil IPO'd for a squillion dollars? Or maybe is it exaggerated now it publically failed to IPO so putting the boot in is allowed. It seems like there is a fair amount of reporting where those working on it are desperate to knife the subject but only occasionally allowed to be let off the leash to do the hatchet job. Maybe it has some baring on how such an asshole as Neumann has failed upwards to become a billionaire. Failed upwards to become a billionaire. Does he care what we think of him in any way?
- skybrian 7y ago
  Maybe it has something to do with availability of sources? People at the company are more willing to talk now than before, when they were hoping to get rich from the IPO. And he's no longer the boss so it's less risky to talk about him.
- yalogin 7y ago
  That is a wrong way to look at it. Journalists dig into stories that pop up or give them a reason to look into. Without this fall from grace and outed as a cheat, he is just another success story, a valley billionaire so nothing really to look at. They have limited time and will try to invest in stories that they feel are important.
  - josefrichter 7y ago
    The reason of $42 billion borderline fraud with red flags all over is not newsworthy?
- Traster 7y ago
  All sorts of stories were out in the wild about Neumann before the failed IPO. It's one of the reasons IPO failed. I remember on Hacker News people talking about WeWork's acquisition of a surfing company years ago and there was a notable post about them evicting a customer for a negative blog. The thing is though, a founder/CEO of a private company isn't subject to public pressure, and it's not unusual for Tech Bros to be total douchebags (see also: Jack Dorsey - Biohacker Extra-ordinare, Mark Zuckerberg - The 21st Century's answer to Nero, Musk - Pedofinder General). What changed isn't the failure of reporters, it's the fact that suddenly the guy had actual public accountability.
- rchaud 7y ago
  Skepticism of WeWork has existed for years. Just check the comments on pre-2018 HN links related to WW. > Does he care what we think of him in any way? Is that what you're getting out of this? That the media are revelling in taking down a fraud? What I get out of this is the scale of the disconnect between academic theories around capital investment, and the bullshit upon which those decisions are actually based. Anybody who claims MBS and Jared Kushner are going to save the world is a sociopath and a liar willing to say whatever it takes to get pen to paper on another billion dollar funding round.
rajacombinator 7y ago
So epic. This guy is the ultimate “real world” hacker.

harry8 7y ago

Look I want to put the boot into silicon valley snake oil salesmen and billionaire assholes as much if not more than most here but this troubles me a little. None of this kind of story before his fall from grace and now here it all is. So I guess we don't get it reported if his snakeoil IPO'd for a squillion dollars? Or maybe is it exaggerated now it publically failed to IPO so putting the boot in is allowed. It seems like there is a fair amount of reporting where those working on it are desperate to knife the subject but only occasionally allowed to be let off the leash to do the hatchet job. Maybe it has some baring on how such an asshole as Neumann has failed upwards to become a billionaire. Failed upwards to become a billionaire. Does he care what we think of him in any way?

skybrian 7y ago
Maybe it has something to do with availability of sources? People at the company are more willing to talk now than before, when they were hoping to get rich from the IPO. And he's no longer the boss so it's less risky to talk about him.
yalogin 7y ago
That is a wrong way to look at it. Journalists dig into stories that pop up or give them a reason to look into. Without this fall from grace and outed as a cheat, he is just another success story, a valley billionaire so nothing really to look at. They have limited time and will try to invest in stories that they feel are important.
- josefrichter 7y ago
  The reason of $42 billion borderline fraud with red flags all over is not newsworthy?
Traster 7y ago
All sorts of stories were out in the wild about Neumann before the failed IPO. It's one of the reasons IPO failed. I remember on Hacker News people talking about WeWork's acquisition of a surfing company years ago and there was a notable post about them evicting a customer for a negative blog. The thing is though, a founder/CEO of a private company isn't subject to public pressure, and it's not unusual for Tech Bros to be total douchebags (see also: Jack Dorsey - Biohacker Extra-ordinare, Mark Zuckerberg - The 21st Century's answer to Nero, Musk - Pedofinder General). What changed isn't the failure of reporters, it's the fact that suddenly the guy had actual public accountability.
rchaud 7y ago
Skepticism of WeWork has existed for years. Just check the comments on pre-2018 HN links related to WW. > Does he care what we think of him in any way? Is that what you're getting out of this? That the media are revelling in taking down a fraud? What I get out of this is the scale of the disconnect between academic theories around capital investment, and the bullshit upon which those decisions are actually based. Anybody who claims MBS and Jared Kushner are going to save the world is a sociopath and a liar willing to say whatever it takes to get pen to paper on another billion dollar funding round.

rajacombinator 7y ago

So epic. This guy is the ultimate “real world” hacker.