Weekly Kaizen – August 25th – China, WeWork and Caesar…

What have Trump, Adam Neumann and Julius Caesar in common?

Grandiosity

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In this weekly Kaizen, we will firstly take a look at China from two different view points. The first is from Ray Dalio, discussing the Impact of China’s Growth on the World Economy in the second video Kyle Bass, a hedge fund manager, interviews Steve Bannon.

Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio Discusses the Impact of China’s Growth on the World Economy

Over the last 40 years, China’s rapid economic expansion has altered the world’s geopolitical and economic landscape. Bridgewater’s Founder, Co-CIO and co-Chairman Ray Dalio joins Bridgewater’s Senior Portfolio Strategist Jim Haskel to discuss the historical arc of this growth and why the portfolio characteristics of China’s markets are attractive and diversifying despite escalating global tensions. To learn more visit: https://www.bridgewater.com/china/

Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist, sits down with hedge fund giant Kyle Bass to discuss America’s current geopolitical landscape regarding China. Bannon and Bass take a deep dive into Chinese infiltration in U.S. institutions, China’s aggressiveness in the South China sea, and the potential for global conflict in the next few years. Filmed on October 5, 2018 at an undisclosed location.

Great video on the final year of Caesar:

Before getting into WeWork, let’s look back into history to get a better understanding of the last year of Caesar, arguably one of the most accomplished humans in history.

Source: Historia Civilis

Views on WeWork:

Ben Thomson’s Stratechery view on WeWork: The WeWork IPO

Alternative, and entertaining read:

Prof.Scott Galloway on WeWork in his No Mercy/No Malice blog

Also, recommended to read the S1 filling:

Read here We Work’s S1

Extra reading:

Softbank Will Succeed Even If Its WeWork Investment Doesn’t Work Out

So, what do I think of WeWork? My prediction is that in 20 years students will try to make sense of how, a heavily indebted real estate company, got valued at 26x revenue. Similar to how students currently look back on the Dot-Com bubble.