Adam and Rebekah Neumann are feeling the pressures of their affluent lifestyle and harsh, self-serving decisions in ‘WeCrashed’ episode 6. While Adam is being inspected by WeWork investor Benchmark Capital’s no-nonsense partner Cameron Lautner, Rebekah is working on a side project to develop a company education branch.

With the prospect of losing his job as CEO looming, Adam turns to his billionaire facilitator Masayoshi Son (affectionately known as Masa) of SoftBank with an audacious proposition. This is the part where the Hulu series truly lives up to its name. The Neumanns are facing a potential calamity as their questionable spending (and earning) habits begin to surface. Let’s take a deeper look at ‘WeCrashed’ episode 6 to figure out what’s going on. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Recap of WeCrashed Episode 6

The episode begins with Adam and Rebekah on vacation in California, with the former missing a board meeting and the latter working on a huge list of possible firms that can be launched under the “We” brand. Adam is enthusiastic about the idea, but his company’s board of directors is wary. The big shock comes when Cameron Lautner sets up shop at Adam’s WeWork headquarters and begins poring over the company’s financial records for the last ten years. When he brings the gross expenditures to Adam’s attention, which include investments in a wave pool firm and a coffee creamer company, the CEO just states that all of the transactions were approved by the board.

Despite Adam’s bluster at the meeting with Cameron, he begins to worry about the kind of scrutiny WeWork’s finances would face as the business prepares to go public. In a last-ditch effort to keep control of his company and avoid accountability to anyone else, he contacts Masa and requests that the SoftBank CEO buy out all of WeWork’s other stockholders.

The idea is dubbed Project Fortitude, and it involves a back-and-forth discussion between Adam and Masa, with each competing for ownership of WeWork as part of the deal. When Adam is horribly late for a meeting with a key SoftBank investor named Al Mubarak, Masa begins to have second thoughts about proceeding with the acquisition.

Why Does Masa Back Out of the Deal in WeCrashed Episode 6?

Meanwhile, Rebekah is hard at work developing WeGrow, a school based on her learning principles. Adam becomes increasingly annoyed as she pours money into the venture, owing in part to the pressure he is under from Cameron and Bruce from Benchmark Capital. Watching Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO and co-founder, be fired on the news brings things home for Adam, especially because Benchmark Capital is also a shareholder in Uber.

Finally, Masa informs Adam that he will not be able to complete the transaction, and the WeWork CEO’s world comes crashing down around him. Adam has a breakdown on the way home from a party while seated next to his wife, after a heated disagreement with Rebekah over WeGrow and her previous unsuccessful enterprises. When Rebekah notices Adam crying, she chooses not to console him and instead stares out the car window.

As a result, the last minutes of episode 6 deliver the first news of the company’s titular “crash,” with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son refusing to buy out WeWork’s other investors. As a result, Adam is now at the mercy of Benchmark Capital and the company’s other investors (and board members), who are becoming tired of his erratic spending habits. Furthermore, Masa’s withdrawal from the agreement implies that the WeWork board may proceed with bringing the firm public, exposing Adam’s financial actions over the last ten years to public scrutiny.

Why does Masa finally back out of the agreement after encouraging Adam to be “crazy”? While there is no single cause, it is evident that the SoftBank CEO sees several red flags in Adam’s behavior. Aside from the egregious expenditures brought to Masa’s attention by his advisors, the SoftBank CEO is put off by Adam’s constant talks under Project Fortitude to retain control of WeWork and to prevent Masa from investing in any other real estate company. The final straw comes when Adam is late for a meeting with Al Mubarak, a key SoftBank investor who, as a result, declines Masa’s request to invest more money in WeWork.

Is Adam Neumann Fired as CEO of WeWork?

At the end of episode 6, Adam is still the CEO of WeWork, but only by a hair’s breadth. His breakdown in the car displays a side of Adam we haven’t seen before and demonstrates how concerned he is, and with good reason! With Masa’s refusal to buy out WeWork’s other investors, Adam is at the mercy of his current business board members, who support the company’s public offering. Of course, going public means that Adam’s egregious spending over the last ten years will be scrutinized.

While some of the expenditures and raucous workplace parties look awful, Cameron Lautner discloses even more unsettling details when he tells the board that Adam has been leasing back to WeWork properties that he owns, indicating a blatant conflict of interest. Though Adam’s following outburst and request for an impromptu vote of confidence narrowly favor the WeWork CEO, his position appears to be in risk, especially now that Masa has rejected the plan to buy out WeWork’s other investors.