Inside the 3-floor New York City penthouse ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann is selling for $37.5 million

Paige Leskin

Feb 21, 2020, 18:05 IST

Inside the 3-floor New York City penthouse ex-WeWork CEO Adam Neumann is selling for $37.5 million

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Adam Neumann, former WeWork CEO.

Since he was ousted from WeWork six months ago, former CEO Adam Neumann has kept a low profile, mostly staying hidden from the public eye.
Now, Neumann is putting a massive chunk of his property in New York City for sale. The units for sale - a three-floor penthouse suite and a second duplex apartment - are listed together for $37.5 million.
Neumann faced scrutiny after WeWork's IPO filing brought into question the CEO's leadership, business model, and conflicts of interests. The IPO has since been put on hold.
Take a look inside the massive space in Manhattan's cushy Gramercy Park neighborhood that Neumann purchased in December 2017.
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It's been six months since Adam Neumann was ousted from WeWork, a company he launched along with cofounder Miguel McKelvey in 2010.

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Since leaving the company - with an exit package totaling $1.7 billion - Neumann has kept a low profile. WeWork has shelved its IPO after a disastrous initial attempt: financial filings and media reports raised questions about Neumann's leadership style and WeWork's ability to become profitable.

WeWork has since gotten a new CEO, and is trying to move on from its embattled past. It seems that Neumann is looking to do that too, and has started to offload some of the properties he owns as part of his $80 million real estate portfolio.

As first reported by Bloomberg's Gillian Tan, Neumann is selling off some of his living space in New York City. The listing on Compass asks for $37.5 million for two units: a three-floor penthouse and a duplex apartment on the first floor.

Take a look inside of the New York apartments where Neumann and his family once lived, and that the former WeWork CEO is looking to sell off.

Back in late 2017, Adam Neumann was worth $2.6 billion as the CEO of WeWork, a successful $20 billion co-working startup. He spent $34.7 million to buy four of the luxury apartments in a building in Manhattan's pricey Gramercy Park neighborhood.

While living there, Neumann combined two of the units he bought to create a single, three-floor penthouse. Neumann is now selling off two of the apartments in the building: the triplex penthouse, and two-floor residence on the first floor.

Neumann is asking for $37.5 million for the two units, nearly $3 million more than he paid for the entire block of apartments in 2017.

The listing on Compass refers to the building as an "intimate white-glove, pre-war condominium." There are six total residences in 78 Irving Place: the three up for sale, another first-floor unit Neumann appears to still own, and only two other apartments belonging to other owners.

The three-floor apartment on the building's fifth, sixth, and seventh floors is massive. It comprises 7,880 square feet and has five bedrooms to house Neumann's family of seven. It also has a media room and a private roof deck.

The penthouse was created when Neumann combined his $18 million duplex apartment on the top floor, and another unit below it he had purchased for $9.5 million. There are two sets of stairs — including this winding staircase — that connect the three floors.

The penthouse also has a total of six bathrooms, including two with opulent bathtubs like the one pictured.

The penthouse also has two walk-in closets and a dressing room — likely an area for further clothing storage, a mirror, and a vanity for makeup and other routines.

According to PropertyShark, Neumann paid $199,799 in property taxes on the Irving Place apartments in 2018. That year, he spent over $650,000 on property taxes in total.

It was previously reported neither of the first-floor apartments, which Neumann purchased for $7.2 million, would be for sale. However, the Compass listing includes one of these units as part of the $37.5 million price tag.

The first-floor unit is much more modest: The duplex apartment has one bedroom and two bathrooms. Sources previously told Business Insider that this unit housed the personal support staff for Neumann and his family. The listing suggests the unit is "perfect for guest or staff accommodations."

However, Neumann's real estate purchases — which once totaled $80 million — extend far beyond these luxury units. Neumann also a townhouse in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, a 60-acre farm outside New York City, "at least two" homes in the Hamptons, and a $21 million home in San Francisco.

Although he's no longer at WeWork, Neumann is still considered a billionaire: His net worth is an estimated $1 billion — likely due in part to the exit package Neumann was awarded. The package included a $185 million "consulting fee" and the option to cash out nearly $1 billion in WeWork shares.

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