Adam Neumann

by Marc Benioff
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Jamel Toppin—The Forbes Collection/Contour by Getty Images

Growing up on a kibbutz in Israel, Adam Neumann was the only boy whose family had a VCR, which made his house a magnet for the local kids. Everyone eventually forgot about the VCR, he remembers, but “we still ended up hanging out together.”

Today that same communal spirit has attracted 240,000 workers from businesses of all sizes to WeWork, the company he co-founded, in 21 countries. With collaborative work­spaces, startup incubators, gyms and housing, Adam is ­revolutionizing the way we work and reimagining how we live.

At a time of declining public trust in nearly every institution, Adam and I connect on leading values-driven companies that serve a larger purpose, beyond making money. “How do you change the world?” he once asked. “Bring people together.”

By enabling the next generation to come together to work and play in a whole new way, Adam shows how we can “make a life, not just a living.”

Benioff is the chairman and CEO of Salesforce

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