The boss of Wework, the trendy office space sharing company, has made millions of dollars from taking stakes in properties and leasing them back to his company, it emerged yesterday. The practice by Adam Neumann was disclosed in a prospectus for a debt offering by Wework last year, which showed that the company had leases on several properties in which he had stakes. Although such a practice is not unheard of in the property industry, it is not commonplace. Wework, one of the world’s most highly valued start-ups, buys long leases on city offices and divides them into smaller units to create co-working spaces or short-term rentals for small businesses. Its offices are popular among technology start-ups. Mr Neumann, 39, who founded Wework in 2010,
Details published in the prospectus for company ’s bond issue last year indicate that the company plans to pay around $ 15 m in rent on buildings partially owned by officers over the lifetime of the leases . This is on top of $ 12 m paid between 2016 and 2017 .