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
Johnson , Risk Capital Partners veteran and chairman of private equity firm WeWork , has launched a scathing attack on WeWork . Citing founder Johnson , who refers to the company's valuation being based “more on our energy and spirituality”, Luke Johnson said the trendy froth surrounding WeWork doesn’t change the basics: it's a cyclical business and small tenants will look to reduce property obligations when the market turns. Pointing to the company's spurious profit measure, Johnson said it's rare to see so many sell signals in a single company.