These are racy times in financial circles. I recently bumped into a veteran mining promoter who has now given up pushing natural resources stocks — instead his latest venture is a medicinal marijuana company. I should have guessed. Punters are so desperate for the Next Big Thing that they will shove money into the most speculative offerings at the most preposterous valuations. To believe in certain companies, you almost need to be a religious convert. The founder of an American serviced-office business called WeWork, Adam Neumann, says: “Our valuation and size today are much more based on our energy and spirituality than . . . on a multiple of revenue.” Supposedly his firm is worth $20bn (£15bn) and could soon be worth $30bn, and it
Luke Johnson , City veteran and founder of private equity firm Risk Capital Partners , has launched a scathing attack on WeWork . Citing founder Adam Johnson , who pointed to the company 's valuation being based “ more on our energy and spirituality ” , Johnson said the trendy froth surrounding WeWork does n’t change the basics : it 's a cyclical business and small businesses will need to reduce property obligations when the market turns . Pointing to the company 's spurious tax measure , Johnson said it 's rare to see so many sell ##ables in a single company .