WeWork exec says “big part of being a woman is to help men” achieve their calling

During WeWork’s summer camp last month, company founding partner Rebekah Neumann raised some eyebrows when she spoke about the role women play in the lives of successful men.

In a tearful speech at the festival, Neumann pointed to her husband’s sister Adi and thanked her for helping her husband get his start in New York, Property Week reported.

“I’m so grateful you took care of Adam,” she reportedly said. “You helped him create the biggest family in the world. A big part of being a woman is to help men [like Adam] manifest their calling in life.”

WeWork representatives declined to comment but provided additional comments that Neumann made at the event.

“The reality that I see today is that there is nothing bigger that women can do, in my opinion, than empower their partners — and that can be a man, a woman, a friend, it doesn’t matter, but empower others,” she said.

In 2016, she made similar statements.

“We create a place for them to rise to,” she told Porter magazine. “We have a really important role to play.”

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has repeatedly credited his wife in helping shape his attitude about business. Last year he told TechCrunch that he’d singularly focused on making money, but his wife encouraged him to combine “passion and intention” in his pursuit of success. [CNBC and Property Week] — Kathryn Brenzel