Neumann’s Resurrection & The Trump Org’s Future

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Happy Sunday, and welcome back to Dry Powder.

Is it bonkers for Andreesen Horowitz to entrust failed WeWork C.E.O. Adam Neumann with a $350 million check? In today’s column, my thoughts on a16z’s big contrarian bet, pump-and-dump king Ryan Cohen’s Bed Bath & Beyond pullout, and whether Weisselberg’s guilty plea spells the end of the Trump Org.

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Neumann’s Resurrection & The Trump Org’s Future

Notes on the biggest stories coursing through Wall Street: Andreesen’s WeWork revisionism, Cohen’s meme stock rug pull, and the Weisselberg fallout.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

It’s hard to comprehend what would compel Andreesen Horowitz, the esteemed Silicon Valley venture firm, to entrust Adam Neumann with a fresh $350 million to try to play his part in solving the nation’s housing crisis. It was only three years ago, of course, that Neumann presided over the implosion of WeWork, his kibbutz-inspired coworking concept, that incinerated tens of billions of dollars in the process. In the words of a16z co-founder Marc Andreesen, this spectacular failure simply represented an invaluable “lessons learned” opportunity along Neumann’s journey of disruption. To others, Marc, it might sound like investing malpractice.

After the extremely well-documented fleecing of investors perpetrated by Neumann and WeWork, it blows my mind that the braintrust behind a16z—the best in the business, right?—could possibly back Neumann again in this new venture. And not just with a toehold investment, but a nine-figure check, the largest the firm has ever written in its history. If I were a limited partner in a16z, I’d be plenty pissed and consider sending the firm a redemption notice...

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