Meet the Anti-Adam Neumann

Is Jamie Hodari the future of co-working?

If you’ve seen the Apple TV+ miniseries WeCrashed, the name might already ring a bell. In the show’s fifth episode, Jared Leto’s Adam Neumann sits across from Jamie Hodari on a private jet, comparing notes on their rival firms.

Where Neumann is (accurately) portrayed as a charismatic, larger-than-life personality, Hodari is buttoned-up and awkward. “I kind of liked being played as the nerdy, serious foil,” Hodari says. And the contrast certainly seems apt.

But first, let’s backtrack a little. Adam Neumann co-founded co-working real estate company WeWork back in 2010 and served as its CEO and celebrity figurehead until 2019, when he was forced out by the board.

After growing the company to a $47 billion valuation in January 2019, concern over Neumann’s governance and spending as well as the company’s potential profitability sunk WeWork to a $10 billion valuation and saw Neumann and his family members removed from their positions in the company (though Neumann was retained as a consultant for an annual salary of $46 million).

Hodari founded Industrious with childhood best friend Justin Stewart in 2012. While it currently sits at a valuation under $1 billion, it faired much better through the pandemic, taking a ‘slow and steady’ approach. With 200+ locations to WeWork’s current 586, it’s still the underdog, but its unique approach to the co-working space makes it a more stable option than its competitor.

WeWork grew so rapidly by signing long-term leases and subsequently renting that space out as co-working offices on a short-term basis. But that means that when demand is low, like during the pandemic, WeWork is on the hook to pay its landlords from its own pocket despite its limited revenue.

By contrast, Industrious uses a management-agreement model that gives a share of profits to the landlords it partners with, reducing the risk for Industrious when demand is low. Even WeWork seems to be moving towards a similar model.

While their approaches to business may seem polar opposite, Hodari does have one thing in common with Neumann — he’s tried his hand at a lot of different things. From a school in Rwanda to a Montauk lifestyle magazine, here are the cool and crazy things Hodari and Neumann have been involved in over the years, right up to where they are now.