Fatal Attraction

The rise and fall of the relationship between WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son reveals deep flaws in the tech world's quest to swallow the global economy,

- By Katrina Brooker. Ilustration by Simon Prades

“Sunshine is the gift of the gods,”

MASAYOSHI SON CHEERILY TOLD A CROWD OF INVESTORS ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 3, 2018. HE WAS IN GREATER NOIDA, INDIA, GIVING A SPEECH ABOUT SOLAR POWER. THE DAY WAS HOT, IN THE MID-90S, AND FOR SON, CEO OF THE JAPANESE TELECOM CONGLOMERATE SOFTBANK, PARTICULARLY BRIGHT. HIS VISIONS FOR SOFTBANK—TO BE AT THE VANGUARD OF TECHNOLOGY AND AI INVESTING—HAD CAPTIVATED THE GLOBAL CAPITAL WORLD.

“As long as you have the land and sunshine . . . I will give you free electricity,” he said. Son had committed to investing as much as $100 billion in Indian solar infrastructure. The free power would come 25 years from now.

Meanwhile, nine and a half time zones away, Adam Neumann, co-founder and CEO of WeWork, the fast-growing global office-leasing player, was in New York celebrating a series of recent milestones: becoming New York’s largest private landlord; committing the company to becoming carbon neutral by 2023; and officially launching WeGrow, an early-education offshoot run by his wife, Rebekah.