- Adam Neumann is trying to buy back WeWork, the now-bankrupt company he cofounded.
- He’s being aided by lawyer Alex Spiro, who helped Elon Musk take over Twitter in 2022.
- Spiro’s other high-profile clients include the rappers Jay-Z and Megan Thee Stallion.
Adam Neumann is trying to buy back WeWork – with the help of a lawyer close to Elon Musk.
The New York Times’ DealBook published a letter Tuesday that said Neumann has met several times with the company he cofounded since December to discuss buying it or its assets, or providing it with financing.
The letter was sent by Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan who’s perhaps best known for working with Musk on his 2022 takeover of the company then known as Twitter (now called X).
Spiro became Neumann’s counsel at the end of 2023, Bloomberg Law reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
After Musk bought Twitter, the Quin Emanuel attorney ended up working side-by-side with the multi-billionaire and gave his input in layoff discussions, Bloomberg Law reported in November 2022.
Spiro has also represented Musk — the owner of Tesla, X, and SpaceX — in at least five other cases, including in a 2018 defamation lawsuit brought by Vernon Unsworth, a British caver whom Musk called a “pedo guy.”
Musk subsequently hired him to fight the Securities and Exchange Commission, JPMorgan Chase, Alameda County health officials, and a Tesla skeptic named Randeep Hothi who also had sued Musk for defamation.
Jeanine Zalduendo, an attorney in Los Angeles who worked with Spiro on several cases, told Business Insider in 2022 that the two men seemed to share a sense of humor.
“The practice of law can be so dry and boring,” she said. “We’re not there laughing all the time, but someone who’s lighthearted and can give a joke, take a joke — it’s that kind of energy on teams.”
“I’ve seen [Musk and Spiro] in a room together,” Zalduendo added. “They get along very well.”
Spiro’s other clients include the rappers Jay-Z, Megan Thee Stallion, and Bobby Shmurda, the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the right-wing political commentator Dinesh D’Souza, and the former NBA player Thabo Sefolosha.
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