Miguel McKelvey

Last updated
Miguel McKelvey
Born1974 (age 48–49)
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Oregon
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder and chief culture officer, WeWork

Miguel McKelvey (born 1974) is an American businessman, and the co-founder and former chief culture officer of WeWork.

Contents

Early life

McKelvey grew up in a "five-mother collective" in Eugene, Oregon. [1] His family started and ran a weekly newspaper called the Eugene Weekly. [2]

In a January 2020 interview with Fortune, McKelvey called himself "a wild kid" on the high school basketball court. He said that he found a sense of accountability from his coach, who was a strict disciplinarian. He said of Coach Stepp, "I didn’t grow up with my father, so I never had someone telling me to keep in line." [3]

He graduated from South Eugene High School in 1992. [4] [5] McKelvey first attended Colorado College and, after seeing a sculpture he created, his professor, Carl Reed, recommended he consider architecture for graduate school. [6] [7]   He transferred to the University of Oregon where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1999. [8] [9] [6]

McKelvey played on the Oregon Ducks basketball team for two years. [10] However, the official record book indicates he lettered for only one year, 1997. [11]

Career

Before graduating from college, McKelvey worked as a busboy in a restaurant, and spent two summers at an Alaskan fish processing plant. [7]

After graduating from college, McKelvey went to Tokyo to visit a friend, and while there, he co-founded English, baby!, a web portal and social network for students to create and take foreign-language online courses. [12] The website offers vocabulary quizzes, grammar lessons, and a social network that connects English-language learners with English-fluent peers. [13] [4] The business grew to 25 employees. [14]

McKelvey next moved to New York City, where he worked at Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture. [13] [15]  The firm was responsible for all the American Apparel projects, and McKelvey became the manager of the international retail roll out. [16] [17]

Adam Neumann worked in the same office building, and the two met at a party. [17] [18] [19]   In 2008, the two convinced their landlord to let them divide the floors of an empty building into semi-communal offices and rent them out; [19] this was the start of Green Desk. [18]  McKelvey designed the name, logo, and a working website for the new business in one night. [19] Green Desk was an eco-friendly coworking space, with a focus on recycled furniture and wind-power electricity. [6]  McKelvey and Neumann eventually sold the business to their landlord, Joshua Guttman, and evolved the concept into WeWork. [20] [21] [18]

WeWork was founded in 2010, with its first office space in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo. [22] McKelvey served as WeWork's chief culture officer. [13] [23] He directed construction, architecture, and web design for the company, and was also responsible for building and operating culture. [24] [25] Since 2010, The We Company has launched several new ventures: WeLive, a co-living venture; [26] Rise by We, a luxury gym concept; [27] and WeGrow, a private elementary school. [28] In 2019, the company introduced The We Company, a parent brand that comprises WeWork, WeLive, WeGrow, and other ventures. [29]

In 2017, McKelvey was named WeWork’s chief culture officer and in 2019, [30] [31] Fast Company named McKelvey one of its Most Creative People. [20]

On June 5, 2020, McKelvey announced that he would be leaving WeWork at the end of the month. [32]

In 2022, McKelvey purchased a $10m controlling stake in apparel maker American Giant. According to him, his ownership of the fashion brand was part of his larger vision to revitalize US factories and restore them as economic drivers. [33]

Personal life

McKelvey was married to Hiyam Khalifa, a former investment banker born in Detroit, before their divorce in 2017. [34] [35]

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References

  1. ↑ "The World According to WeWork". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  2. ↑ "Can Miguel McKelvey Build the 'Culture Operating System' at WeWork?". HBS Working Knowledge. 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  3. ↑ Marinova, Polina (2020-01-22). "WeWork's other cofounder has a plan to save the company. It's the opposite of what Adam Neumann envisioned". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  4. 1 2 "Miguel McKelvey 1990". School of Architecture & Environment. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  5. ↑ "Following a Passion – Eugene Weekly" . Retrieved 2019-07-09.
  6. 1 2 3 Kunes, Adam (2017-03-30). "From Handyman to the Founder of a Billion-Dollar Company". Hustle Con. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  7. 1 2 "Miguel McKelvey Is Reimagining The Workplace". Rich Roll. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  8. ↑ "Miguel McKelvey: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Archinect Sessions: From an All-Women-Led Commune to a Multi-Billion Dollar Startup on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  10. ↑ "WeWork cofounder employs architectural design skills in global 'startup' valued at $16 billion". College of Design. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "2019-20 Oregon Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics.
  12. ↑ "Miguel McKelvey 1990". School of Architecture & Environment. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  13. 1 2 3 Henry, Zoë (2015-10-16). "This Guy Went From Glorified Handyman to Co-Founder of a $10 Billion Company". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  14. ↑ "Forbes profile: Miguel McKelvey". forbes.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  15. ↑ Mochari, Ilan (2015-11-03). "What WeWork Overcame to Be Worth $10 Billion". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  16. ↑ "Working out of the Box: Miguel McKelvey". Archinect. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  17. 1 2 Wiedeman, Reeves (June 10, 2019). "The I in We How did WeWork's Adam Neumann turn office space with "community" into a $47 billion company? Not by sharing". NY Mag. New York.
  18. 1 2 3 Kosoff, Maya. "How WeWork became the most valuable startup in New York City". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  19. 1 2 3 Konrad, Alex. "Inside The Phenomenal Rise Of WeWork". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  20. 1 2 "Meet Miguel McKelvey, one of Fast Company's Most Creative People". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  21. ↑ "Miguel McKelvey 1990". School of Architecture & Environment. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  22. ↑ Bronner, Stephen J. (2018-09-18). "12 Crazy Things You Should Know About WeWork, the Coworking Company Valued at $20 Billion". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  23. ↑ "WeWork's billionaire cofounder has pledged to give a percentage of his exit proceeds to charity". businessinsider.com. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  24. ↑ "Miguel McKelvey". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  25. ↑ "WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey is graduation speaker". Around the O. 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  26. ↑ "Q+A: WeWork's Miguel McKelvey Talks WeLive". www.architectmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  27. ↑ Eldredge, Barbara (2017-05-31). "WeWork is opening gyms in its office spaces". Curbed. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  28. ↑ Plagianos, Irene (2017-11-06). "Wework is Launching a Grade School for Budding Entrepreneurs". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  29. ↑ Brooker, Katrina (2019-01-08). "Exclusive: WeWork rebrands to The We Company; CEO Neumann talks about revised SoftBank round". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-09-27.
  30. ↑ "Can Miguel McKelvey Build the 'Culture Operating System' at WeWork?". HBS Working Knowledge. 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  31. ↑ "Design Is About Connection: WeWork's Miguel McKelvey". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  32. ↑ Bosa, Deirdre (2020-06-05). "WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey is leaving at the end of the month". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  33. ↑ "WeWork Co-Founder Buys a Hip Clothing Brand and Starts a Senior Center". Bloomberg.com. 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  34. ↑ "Career 180: Hiyam McKelvey is all 'puckered' up". amny.com. June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  35. ↑ Feldman, Amy. "Here's What Happened To WeWork's Other Founder, Miguel McKelvey". Forbes. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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