WeWork co-founder lines up $350 million A16Z investment for a new billion-dollar real estate venture

Photo by Ryan Muir / Getty Images via The New York Times

Adam Neumann, the co- founder and former CEO of the shared office startup WeWork, is working on a new rental real estate business that has received funding According to a report from The New York Times, the venture capital firm invested $350 million in Neumann's up-and-coming real estate business, which aims to provide a consistent housing experience across a chain of branded apartment complexes.

You might be having a similar experience if you know the story of WeWork. It was once valued at $50 billion. After a failed IPO and the layoffs of thousands of its workers, WeWork became more well known for corporate drama than its actual business. He made out with a $1.7 billion exit package after stepping down as CEO.

This investment is the largest individual check written in a round of funding to a company. Critics have described his leadership of WeWork as a cautionary tale of corporate arrogance, and it hasn't even launched yet.

Thousands of apartment units in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Nashville have already been purchased by Neumann.

Adam Neumann is returning to the theme of connecting people through transforming their physical spaces and building communities where people spend the most time: their homes. The world's largest asset class is ready for this change.