Miguel McKelvey

Last updated
Miguel McKelvey
Born1974 (age 49–50)
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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergey Brin</span> American computer scientist and businessman (born 1973)

Sergey Mikhailovich Brin is an American computer scientist and businessman who co-founded Google with Larry Page. He was the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on December 3, 2019. He and Page remain at Alphabet as co-founders, controlling shareholders and board members. As of November 2024, Brin is the 7th-richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $153 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Collison</span> Irish entrepreneur (born 1988)

Patrick Collison is an Irish-American entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, which he started with his younger brother, John, in 2010. He won the 41st Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2005 at the age of sixteen. In 2020, he founded Fast Grants to accelerate COVID-19-related science with Tyler Cowen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Dalio</span> American investor and hedge fund manager (born 1949)

Raymond Thomas Dalio is an American investor and hedge fund manager, who has served as co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, since 1985. He founded Bridgewater in 1975 in New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Collison</span> Irish-American entrepreneur (born 1990)

John Collison is an Irish-American entrepreneur and the co-founder and president of Stripe which he co-founded in 2010 with his brother Patrick. Collison was the youngest self-made billionaire in 2016. As of 2022, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth was estimated at US$11.4 billion, ranking him the 187th richest person in the world and one of the wealthiest people from Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WePay</span> Online payment service provider

WePay is an online payment service provider based in the United States. It provides an integrated and customizable payment solution, through its APIs, to platform businesses such as crowdfunding sites, marketplaces and small business software companies. It also offers partners fraud and risk protection.

Thomas "Tom" Secunda is an American billionaire businessman, best known as one of the four co-founders of Bloomberg L.P. and its vice chairman. As of May 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$4.1 billion. He has signed Giving Pledge which commits him to donating the majority of his wealth to charity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim McKelvey</span> American sculptor

James Morgan McKelvey Jr. is an American billionaire businessman who co-founded Block, Inc. McKelvey was appointed as an independent director of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in January 2017. As of July 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$2 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Camp</span> Canadian billionaire entrepreneur (born 1978)

Garrett Camp is a Canadian businessman, investor, and software engineer. He helped build the search engine StumbleUpon and is a co-founder of Uber. He lives in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Systrom</span> American computer programmer and entrepreneur (born 1983)

Kevin Systrom is an American computer programmer and entrepreneur. He co-founded Instagram, the world's largest photo sharing website, along with Mike Krieger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WeWork</span> American coworkspace company

WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated 43.9 million square feet (4,080,000 m2) of space, including 18.3 million square feet (1,700,000 m2) in the United States and Canada, in 779 locations in 39 countries, and had 547,000 members, with a weighted average commitment term of 19 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Tsai</span> Taiwanese-Canadian businessman (born 1964)

Joseph Chung-Hsin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡崇信; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhòa Chông-sìn; born January 1964) is a Taiwanese-Canadian billionaire business magnate, lawyer, and philanthropist. He is a cofounder and chairman of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group and owns the Brooklyn Nets of the American National Basketball Association (NBA), the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League (NLL), and has interests in several other professional sports franchises. Tsai's net worth is estimated to be US$8.1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Gebbia</span> American businessman (born 1981)

Joseph Gebbia Jr. is an American designer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of home rental company Airbnb. Gebbia is the 386th richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $7.4 billion, mostly due to his ownership of 53 million shares of Airbnb. In 2022, Gebbia joined the board of Tesla Inc. and bought a minority stake in the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Sharp</span> American Internet entrepreneur

Evan Sharp is an American billionaire Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and chief design and creative officer of Pinterest, a visual discovery engine. He joined the company's board of directors in March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Neumann</span> Israeli-American businessman (born 1979)

Adam Neumann is an Israeli-American billionaire businessman and investor. In 2010, he co-founded WeWork with Miguel McKelvey, where he was CEO from 2010 to 2019. In 2019, he co-founded a family office dubbed 166 2nd Financial Services with his wife, Rebekah Neumann, to manage their personal wealth, investing over a billion dollars in real estate and venture startups.

Anthony Di Iorio is a Canadian entrepreneur primarily known as a co-founder of Ethereum and an early investor in Bitcoin. Di Iorio is the founder and CEO of the blockchain company Decentral, and the associated Jaxx wallet. He also served as the first chief digital officer of the Toronto Stock Exchange. In February 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth at $750 million–$1 billion.

Joel Schreiber is a British-born American real estate developer, investor, and founder of Waterbridge Capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebekah Neumann</span> American businesswoman (born 1978)

Rebekah Victoria Neumann is an American businesswoman. Until September 22, 2019, she served as chief brand and impact officer at WeWork, a company founded by her husband, Adam Neumann, and oversaw its education program WeGrow.

WeCrashed is an American drama miniseries that premiered on Apple TV+ on March 18, 2022. The series stars Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the real-life married couple at the heart of WeWork, a coworking space company which claimed a valuation of $47 billion in 2019, before crashing as a result of financial revelations. The series is based on the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork by Wondery.

Flow is an American residential real-estate company based in Miami, Florida. It was founded in 2022 by the former CEO of WeWork Adam Neumann and funded by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The company hopes to address some aspects of the United States housing shortage through technology, providing equity for renters, and a new type of social interaction. The startup is initially planning to operate 3,000 apartment units, purchased by Neumann, in Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Miami and Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.