Adam Neumann is the most brilliant, but perhaps somewhat repulsive, [not short] seller of the unicorn bubble.
People sometimes incorrectly assume that the proper way to benefit from overpriced assets is to sell them short. Truth is that any selling will suffice! Housing bubble? Build more houses, sell. Corporate credit bubble? Start a corporation, get credit. Tech unicorn valuation bubble? You got it, create a stupid startup, pay yourself huge salary and sell your stock on private markets.
Bottom line is that supply follows demand - if there is demand then supply will materialize. This is the "magic" of capitalism. It's no different with WeWork, which is a consequence of investors chasing outsized returns in a low return environment.
Matt Levine's column on the topic (scroll to "We We We"):
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the-tr...
And if you don't believe that this is caused by chasing crazy returns see this interview with Masayoshi Son about how he secured $45B in 45 minutes from the Saudi prince (1:05). He said he wants to give him a $1T gift:
https://youtu.be/Sa2_VBu0d7k
Congratulations, this is a Michael Burry level of play. But not as "pure".
People sometimes incorrectly assume that the proper way to benefit from overpriced assets is to sell them short. Truth is that any selling will suffice! Housing bubble? Build more houses, sell. Corporate credit bubble? Start a corporation, get credit. Tech unicorn valuation bubble? You got it, create a stupid startup, pay yourself huge salary and sell your stock on private markets.
Bottom line is that supply follows demand - if there is demand then supply will materialize. This is the "magic" of capitalism. It's no different with WeWork, which is a consequence of investors chasing outsized returns in a low return environment.
Matt Levine's column on the topic (scroll to "We We We"):
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-02/the-tr...
And if you don't believe that this is caused by chasing crazy returns see this interview with Masayoshi Son about how he secured $45B in 45 minutes from the Saudi prince (1:05). He said he wants to give him a $1T gift:
https://youtu.be/Sa2_VBu0d7k
Congratulations, this is a Michael Burry level of play. But not as "pure".