After immigrating from Israel to New York City in 2001, he tried his hand at Krawlers a line of baby clothing with padded knees which flopped. Wowee. And she happens to be Gwyneth Paltrow's cousin. Even when she was still trying to break into acting, Rebekah believed so strongly in her husbands vision that she took a big bet: financing WeWorks first location using some of the $1 million that her parents had given the couple as a wedding gift. Rebekah Neumann is depicted in WeCrashed. Rebekah Neumann played a large role in starting WeWork, investing nearly $1 million into the startup in 2010, according to The Independent. In an interview with Fast Company in 2016, Adam Neumann said she told him to stop talking about money and that Were going to talk about wellness, happiness, fulfillment, and if the money is supposed to follow, it will. (By then, an internal memo had circulated around the company stating that she would henceforth be known only as Rebekah Neumann, not Rebekah Paltrow-Neumann, or RPN.) Kate Middletons New Personal Secretary Will Shake Things Up, Kensington Palaces incoming senior staffer is described as unconventional and a ball-breaker., Kimora Lee Simmons and NYC Mayor Eric Adams Grab Dinner Together. Along with her husband, . Rebekah was recently in the news due to an article by The Wall Street Journal that examined her and Adams over-the-top, unconventional, and impulsive management styles. Check your DNS Settings. On Lewis Howess School of Greatness podcast at the end of 2018, Rebekah admitted she has some phobias around wellness and health stemming from the death of her older brother from cancer when she was a child. Shes fluent in three languages and once toured with Michael Franti & Spearhead. Along with her husband, Neumann strived to make WeWork a profitable company that would impact the very workings of the world in a positive way. Indeed, Rebekah has said that she doesnt even know if her own kids will go to college. Then at some point, he went on to Israel, where he was born, sources said.". Educators would have to hurriedly clean up, and then, according to the book, spend the first few days of the week reprimanding the Neumanns children and their friends to observe rules regarding climbing on [structures] or swinging from them. On WeWorks website, her title was updated to Founder, CEO and Mom, specifying that she studied under His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Mother Nature herself.. Inspired by the paradoxical concept of a capitalist kibbutz, they launched in 2010 with a single location in downtown New York City. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Adam was passed out cold. Adam said he wanted to build a WeWork on Mars and be president of the world. Rebekah and Israeli entrepreneur Adam Neumann met in New York and married in 2008. Like her friend Ivanka Trump, Rebekah lacks charisma on film (and in person, according to people who know her) and gives off weird vibes. [5] Her father had a direct mail business and spent a number of years in prison for tax evasion. Primary Menu Sections Skip to search results While in India to meet with investors about expanding WeWork to that country, Adam partied a little too hard the night before. She entered the Salomon Smith Barney's Sales and Trading Program after graduating from Cornell University. Neumann said in a 2016 interview with Porter magazine that her family lived "off a dirt road in, like, a treehouse." In August 2019, WeWork had goals of filing for an IPO, which would make the company public and arguably more profitable. That date is accurate, as is the fact that Rebekah's father Bob gave his daughter a $1m wedding gift which the . She's hoping to consciously and authentically help the planet through her work using her superpower of intuition. According to Business Insider, Adam and Rebekah are close friends with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Rebekah and Adam Neumann started dating in the 2000s. Rebekah Victoria Neumann (ne Paltrow; born February 26, 1978) is an American businesswoman. Following the fall of WeWork, Adam Neumann received a hefty exit package, which included a revised stock award of $245 million and more than $192 million in cash, the New York Post reported. dijo en un discurso ante todo el personal de WeWork en su retiro anual de campamento de verano en 2018. Hes also been investing in various start-ups tied to the real estate world. Following the series premiere on March 18, here is all you need to know about WeWork founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann, and where the two are now. In one instance, Mr. Neumann laid off 7% of the staff at WeWork in 2016 and had a somber all-hands meeting to announce the decision and how the company needed to cut costs. it was with some of a $1 million wedding . And then theres the companys legendary S-1 form, required for all businesses seeking to sell shares to the public, complete with a dedication on the first page to the energy of wegreater than any one of us but inside all of us. New York University marketing professor and author Scott Galloway said in the Hulu documentary that the S-1 read like a novel written by someone who was shrooming. In fact, it was Rebekah, who is widely credited for the unconventional New Age language contained in the document, which also empowered her to select her husbands successor should he become incapacitated. She married her husband, investor and business magnate, Scott Neumann, in an unconventional wedding dress that made headlines all over the world. As co-authors Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell reveal in the book The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion (Crown), out Tuesday, expensive shortcuts appealed to Adam. It felt like I was meeting post-crucification jesus, tweeted Delian Asparouhav, a principal at Founders Fund, which organized the event. And I am going to the wedding. It was made entirely of white leather and featured a high-necked, long-sleeved bodice, and a full . In March, Forbes estimated that Adam Neumann was worth $4.1 billion.. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. Many of the employees at the retreat would soon find themselves out of a job, their stock options worthless, following the coworking giants wild expansion and aborted IPO, while the Neumanns would gently drift to earth under a gilded $1.7 billion parachute. She just went further back in the timeline. The new endeavor is called SOLFL, pronounced soulful, an acronym that means student of life for life. The SOLFL Instagram account now boasts an attractive orange bubble-font avatar and 26,000 followers, and contains a link to a website featuring images of a surfer riding a wave, a bounty of fresh figs, and a form where you can be the first to know about whats happening with the project. Meanwhile, WeWork is finally having its IPO through a special-purpose acquisition company. For example, when Rebekah needed to order chairs for the WeGrow school, she insisted on seeing 30 samples of the same cushion so she could visualize what the setup would look like, as opposed to looking at a computer-generated mock-up, this person said. Shes the latest example of a late-stage capitalist archetype, a member of the cheugystocracy: banal rich white women leveraging their proximity to power to build their own personal brands. Shes the latest example of a LATE-STAGE CAPITALIST ARCHETYPE, a member of the cheugystocracy. On their first date, she looked me straight in the eye and she said, You, my friend, are full of shit, he recalled during a 2017 speech at Baruch College (he was both the star commencement speaker and, finally, a graduate 15 years after enrolling). In a 2016 fashion spread for Porter magazine that described the Neumanns as the $16 Billion Beatnik Couple Revolutionizing the Way We Live, Rebekah tried to downplay her comfortable upbringing, saying she grew up off a dirt road in, like, a tree house. But Paltrow, who was also interviewed, promptly shut her down. The wife of WeWorksfounder Adam Neumanncarved out her own little space as a New Age execand the companys downfall isnt slowing her. , The "Stranger Things" Prequel Stage Play Dives Deep Into Vecna's Origin Story, Can't Wait For "Daisy Jones & The Six"? The epic rise-and-fall of co-sharing space WeWork, its founder Adam Neumann, and his wife Rebekah Neumann are at the center of Apple TV+'s new series . Photo: Caitlin Ochs/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Outside of business, she is known as the cousin of Marvel actress Gwyneth Paltrow. One month later, Adam was out. Following the 2021 release of the documentary "WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn" and the 2022 dramatic TV series, "WeCrashed," a spotlight fell onto Rebekah Neumann, the wife of WeWork's co-founder, Adam Neumann.Part of this public scrutiny is due to her involvement in the ill-fated company, but a lot is also because of her unusual business philosophies and her plans . Adam feels threatened by Rebekah's father and we catch a glimpse of the brittle ego underneath his calm faade. The company was instead valued at around $10 billion. [19], Neumann has come under criticism for endorsing pseudosciencific beliefs, such as the idea that meat has emotional memory that can be passed on through consumption. Additional troubleshooting information here. Rebekah Neumann is one such bride. Her father's business had hit a lull, and he attempted to right his junk mail ship by creating a fake charity. She. Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the founding couple behind WeWork, left the coworking company amid its disastrous IPO process. By 2019, when Rebekah started calling herself a cofounderan interesting pivot, according to a former employeethe company had attained an eye-popping $47 billion valuation and moved beyond renting desks and toward a grandiose vision involving elevating the worlds consciousness through, among other ventures, coliving (WeLive), education (WeGrow), and fitness (Rise by We). After finally securing a meeting, Adam was kept waiting for hours before Musk gave him minutes to pitch his own idea for a community on the planet. The meeting missed, he instead spent the day recovering at a spa. According to Vanity Fair, WeWork was founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in 2010, and Rebekah Neumann came on as the company's chief brand and impact officer and also carried an additional Orwellian-sounding pseudo-title as her husband's "strategic thought partner.". Rebekah is the wife of WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, and also Paltrow's first cousin (their dads were brothers). Would love your thoughts, please comment. In the series, Jared Leto plays Adam Neumann, the enigmatic co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, which was at one time thought to be valued at $47 billion. We want to create a whole WeWorld where everybody is unified and happy and together, Rebekah said in 2018. Yes, I know Brad [Pitt, whom Paltrow was dating at the time]. Along with Rebekah, the show is also centered on Jared Leto's Adam Neumann. That year, the two started Greendesk, with "sustainable coworking spaces" being its main goal. [13] In 2019 Rebekah Neumann began calling herself a cofounder of WeWork. [6], She founded WeGrow, a private school in Chelsea, in 2017. Rebekah's choice in Halloween costumes is just the latest on the list of details "WeCrashed" incorporated from real life. Rebekah's choice in Halloween costumes is just the latest on the list of details "WeCrashed" incorporated from real life. Adam, on the other hand, has plans to dive back into real estate and revisit a concept of his, WeLive. "It's easy to imagine people in LA trying to use her to get to Gwyneth Paltrow.". She is famously known as Adam's wife and was the former CEO of WeGrow, WeWork's education program. "WeCrashed," a scripted series about the rise and fall of WeWork, Adam . The Truth About Rebekah Neumann And Her Relationship To Cousin Gwyneth Paltrow. As the book puts it, Most surfers consider [this] cheatinglike a mountain climber hopping a ride on a helicopter most of the way up.. She and her family eventually moved across the country to New York City with her family when she was 11. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Neumann's wife Rebekah who was also a co-founder of the company and created a WeWork-affiliated school called WeGrow that cost up to $42,000 per year and shut down in 2019 appeared to be . He was still paying someone to tug him out to the waves on the back of a Jet Ski., 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, WeWork exits 40 US locations after tepid forecast, shares slump, Kanye Wests Donda Academy is another clueless billionaires vanity project, Investors slam WeWork founder Adam Neumanns disgusting comeback, Members only: Join posh NYC club for $125K to work not play hard, The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion. 9 hours ago, by Monica Sisavat His new business has just been valued at 45 million and he's marrying the love of his life, not a bad 2008 for Adam Neumann. She took on the role of chief brand and impact officer, pushing aside Julie Rice, an executive who was hired in 2017 with the title of chief brand officer. She was just 5 years old when she took the stage in Massachusetts' Berkshire Mountains, where her mother was performing. Born February 26, 1978, Rebekah Neumann, 44, is an American businesswoman. [10] When she started her yoga training, Rebekah went by the nickname Rebi. They ended up deciding against it after their advisors warned them about the optics of having the couple there. Tragically, around the same time, Neumann's older brother died after a bout with cancer when he was just 23. By now, just about everyone knows the origin story of WeWork, the coworking start-up founded by two extremely tall men: Adam Neumann, a six-foot-five college dropout who grew up on a kibbutz in Israel, and Miguel McKelvey, a six-foot-eight architect who grew up on a commune in Oregon. Some surf spots in Hawaii even forbid the practice, but Adam would hire local surf coaches who knew how to skirt regulations. As the companys valuation soared, so did the Neumanns dreams. 5 hours ago, by Njera Perkins [17], Since the collapse of WeWork and associated companies it has been discovered that Rebekah Neumann played a key role in WeWorks downfall. Friends describe her as generous, always willing to offer the keys to one of her homes, a nurturing mother, and extremely spiritual. One friend likened Rebekah to a hungry ghost, a Buddhist metaphor that describes a person tormented by unfulfillment. [21] Neumann also appears in the nonfiction book Billion Dollar Loser (2020). The retelling of the anecdote, in different locations, is depicted four times in the Hulu documentary and twice in the HBO Max series, showing how a clever bit was tried, tested, and proven effective with audiences. Another person said that both Adam and Rebekah complimented him several times on his good energy when they first met him. He seemed pretty out of touch.. He added that it's difficult enough to become a successful actor in a place full of people looking to become successful actors themselves, but Sacks pointed out that Neumann likely faced an additional hurdle. Within nine years they grew WeWork to approximately 12,500 employees spread out over 29 countries, with more than 500,000 paying customers ranging from independent freelancers to huge corporations, all while burning through billions in investors money. You can absolutely spend every moment of the day for six or 20 years in genuine dedication to either one of those things," Raphael Sacks, an acting classmate of Newumann's said. I turned our conversation to WeCrashed, the new eight-episode Apple TV+ series, in which she plays Rebekah Neumann.The show follows an improbable story inspired by real-life events and chronicles the rise and fall of WeWork, the coworking space company that grew . It was a good call, and she appeared in critically acclaimed fare like 1995's "Se7en" and 1998's "Shakespeare in Love," a performance which earned her an Oscar win. Early life . He also mentioned spending a fair amount of time with both Neumann and Paltrow at tense family gatherings. Minutes later, employees brought trays of tequila shots into the room and Darryl McDaniels of hip-hop group Run-DMC played a set for the staff. According to her bio on the WeGrow website, she is a certified Jivamukti yoga instructor. Once she was back in New York City, the two were introduced by Andrew Finkelsteina friend of Rebekahs from college who is now a Hollywood agent. On the same podcast she tossed out pseudoscientific nonsense, such as the idea that eating sad animals will make you sad because you absorb the energy of what you eat, and that the secret to living forever is having a flexible spine. A 523 error means that Cloudflare could not reach your host web server. But that was nothing next to their most desired customization. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . You know, just to act a little bit better myself because its always good to learn., READNEXT: Hawaii Accidentally Activates Emergency Sirens, Scaring Residents, Rebekah Paltrow Neumann, Adam Neumanns Wife: 5 Fast Facts, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. At the time Rebekah was a writer and producer, working on a short film documentary from the WeWork head office. Where are Adam Neumann and Rebekah Neumann now? Between missed opportunities and the erratic behavior of Adam, its CEO, WeWork became a shambles by 2019. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a16d87f9fe02d37 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. (He was not.) According to Bustle, Neumann left New York and settled in Los Angeles where she started taking acting classes. By Jacqueline Tempera Published: Mar 18, 2022. Her gowns are all handmade and feature intricate detailing that will make you. The most common cause is that your DNS settings are incorrect. His personal worth plunged from $10 billion to, Forbes reported, $750 million. ", Neumann attended a private high school in the Bronx, and in 1996 she headed upstate to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. For example, when Rebekah needed to order chairs for the WeGrow school, she insisted on seeing 30 samples of the same cushion so she could visualize what the setup would look like, as opposed to looking at a computer-generated mock-up, this person said. +21. (His fortune is now valued at more than $1 billion.). Jared and Adam have reportedly taken tequila shots together and even engaged in an arm wrestling match to settle a dispute. At the WeWork headquarters on Eighteenth Street near Sixth Avenue, Adam installed a secret exit, an ice plunge a metal tub filled with ice water, meant to stand in to refresh ones legs and a smoke eater. A high-powered HVAC vent usually used in cigar bars to keep the air clear, Neumanns smoke eater was for marijuana, according to the book. As federal and state investigators reportedly examine the Neumanns business dealings, they are living their lives with their six children and support staff while hatching plans for their next ventures. She also played Rebekah Keith in the 2012 short film Aunt Louisa. (As of March, they have six.) Rebekah Paltrow Neumann was born in Bedford, New York and attended Cornell University where she majored in Business and had a minor in Buddhism. Her brother had died of cancer at 23, as had other close relatives, including her uncle Bruce Paltrow (the father of Gwyneth Paltrow). Anne Hathaway appears as his wife . Fast Company reported that she stayed with the monks in Dharamsal and once attended a birthday party for the Dalai Lama. They think everybody loves them.. Your IP: Neumann liked to go by the nickname Rebi, and her upbringing is one of the first points of contention between her and her cousin. Later, as Rebekah Keith, a stage name, she starred alongside Rosario Dawson in Awake, a short film she wrote and produced wherein a woman in the depths of the American nightmare is forced to become enlightened or die, according to the Internet Movie Database. South Korea removes militaristic banners from Olympic Vill 11-year-old reads aloud from 'pornographic' book he checked out from library at school board meeting, Chicago's top cop quits one day after woke mayor lost re-election bid, Influencer refuses to switch business class seats so family can sit together, RHOA star Drew Sidora accuses ex Ralph Pittman of cheating, mental abuse, Original Gone With The Wind script reveals secret war over slavery, cut scenes, Drake regrets disrupting someones life by name-dropping exes in his songs, Good luck 'worming' your way out of this one, Sunny Hostin Points Finger at China for COVID Crisis: Did Not Cooperate With the International Community, Kanye West and 'wife' Bianca Censori look surprisingly happy on dinner date. WeWork senior executives requesting an in-person meeting might be asked to fly with Adam from New York to San Francisco at a moments notice. After facing backlash on Twitter, WeWork released an additional quote to provide some context, The reality that I see today is that there is nothing bigger that women can do, in my opinion, than empower their partners and that can be a man, a woman, a friend, it doesnt matter, but empower others., Neumann shared similar comments with Porter Magazine in a 2016 interview, Women need to get to the right level for men to even have the opportunity to get there., We create a place for them to rise to, she added. Dressed in a T-shirt and fitted blazer, her long hair hanging limply over her shoulders, she tells the audience of assembled employees to close their eyes and join hands. Great, Click the Allow Button Above Finally, security was asked to enter the CEOs room and check on him. According to the authors, he received more than $192 million in cash for walking away, as well as a revised stock award of around $245 million and permission to sell more than $500 million in WeWork stock. A 523 error means that Cloudflare could not reach your host web server. The Neumanns sold two of their shared properties and traveled abroad to get away from the "negative energy" of New York, aka the consequences of their actions. Then, she realized she had a mutual connection with the mother of five. Rebekah reads her over-sentimental vows in a purple wedding dress and then daddy hands her a big, fat cheque. Rebekah Paltrow met Adam Neumann in New York "WeCrashed" presents an version of the couple's courtship: In the show, the two meet by chance at a party and Adam follows her until she allows him. In late April, he was spotted in Miami at an impromptu industry confab called Miami Tech Week, at a party held at the Venetian Islands mansion of financier Robert Zangrillo, who was pardoned by Donald Trump for his involvement in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. In fact, the $1 million that Rebekah's parents gave the couple as their wedding gift was used to finance WeWork's first location, and Rebekah was eventually named the company's third co-founder (in addition to Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey). She appeared in three short films in 2010, Fair Game where she played a UN Diplomat (uncredited), and as Rebekah Keith in Awake and Nmadas. He'd had a tumultuous two weeks. The Neumanns were We, having secured the trademark to the word and later charging the company $5.9 million to license it back. The company was a total success, and in 2009, the two sold Greendesk to landlord Joshua Guttman, earning "a few million" in the process, according to The Real Deal. Credits: AppleTV+. They were well-off, she said. But then he was just as likely to make them wait for hours, leave before they arrived at the airport or simply not have time to talk to them on the six-and-a-half-hour flight. Prior to her role in the business world, Rebekah obtained a degree from Cornell University. Thanks to her hefty inheritance, Neumman's wife, Rebekah (ne Paltrow - who, yes, is Gwyneth Paltrow 's cousin) was the first big investor at WeWork, later earning her the title of co-founder.. The way I surf, I dont have time for paddling, he told a colleague. WeWork and its failures were extensively covered in the media, but "WeCrashed" paints a more vulnerable, detailed picture of the two people behind its inevitable downfall. (Rebekah has claimed to be a vegetarian since she was 12, but a person who worked closely with her said that for a period of time she ate red meat once a week because a doctor told her that her body needed it, and said she would close her eyes while doing it. You won't find . [15][16], In October 2019, it was announced that the WeGrow school would close at the end of the academic year. Rebekah's own journey from yogi to actress to educator is well documented in the new series, as well as her outsize impact on her husband's lifethe $1 million wedding gift from her parents. The Neumanns have downsized significantly. After Adam was infamously ousted as the CEO of WeWork in 2019 for dubious deals . According to Bustle, Newman faced a few trying times during her childhood. WeWork's Adam and Rebekah Neumann: Nine Crazy Real-Life Stories. WeWork was founded in 2010 andthrived as a hot commodity before turning into a hopeless money suck for investors. In 2019, Adam received a reported $1.7 billion from the stakeholder Softbank to step down as CEO of WeWork, but he was retained as a consultant with . Her voice is deep and monotone, with a vestigial Long Island accent. Their real estate portfolio has shrunk a lot since 2019. Launching a for-profit private school in the hypercompetitive New York City market was highly unusual, particularly for someone with no background in childhood education. When he co-founded the shared-workspace company WeWork three years later, it was with some of a $1 million wedding present he and wife, Rebekah, had received from her Long Island parents. There are details in the show that draw from real-life stories, media coverage, and events. Neumann's larger-than-life personality sold investors on the idea of WeWork, which set itself apart from other startups as a fun, loose brand that encouraged everything from taking shots and smoking weed during work hours to working 20-hour days and attending 2 a.m. meetings, as reported by The New York Times. The curious story of Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the faces behind famed shared-working space model WeWork, has piqued our interest more than ever with the release of WeCrashed on Apple TV+. Neumann's parents grew estranged over time but both came from families that had developed considerable wealth. One former WeWork employee described feeling an awkward sense of pressure to buy the produce during the workday, given that, after all, these were the bosses kids. But the Hulu documentary really hammers home Rebekahs executive dominance at the company, lest you think it was all her husband, and she has now found herself in the company of great American grifters. Entering the 1990s, Paltrow's career was heating up after performances in films like "Shout" and "Hook" and once again appeared alongside her mother, this time in the 1992 mini-series "Cruel Doubt." Upon buying a $15 million Tudor-style home in Pound Ridge, NY, the Neumanns added 2,000 square feet to the existing 13,000 and reduced the nine bedrooms to five supersized ones. Before meeting Adam, Rebekah worked as an actress and producer, a yoga instructor, and a trader. As evidenced by her name, Rebekah is the cousin of famous actress Gwyneth Paltrow. By 2017, seeking to grow WeWork into something more than just a real-estate startup, Rebekah Neumann founded WeGrow, an alternative elementary school. Adam and Rebekah Neumann are the rare charlatans who believed their own hype. Rebekah would wax poetic about her techno-utopian vision of the future, in which families could travel around the world unencumbered by the inconvenient school calendarnever we mind the carbon footprint of such explorationbecause soon they would have WeGrow systems, a plug-and-play subscription-model education service that would exist everywhere WeWork existed. Rebekah sits in front of a fireplace, cataloging memories while images from her real lifeher childhood, her wedding to Adamappear on-screen. Her famous cousin loomed large in her mindshe debated about whether to continue using her birth name in the industry and met in WeWorks office with consultants to advise her about the issue, according to employees who were there at the time. [5], After graduating from college, Neumann entered Salomon Smith Barney's Sales and Trading Program, now known as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. ", "Build a Purpose Driven Business, Education, and Life with WeWork Co-Founder Rebekah Neumann", "WeCrashed: What to Know About the WeWork Series Starring Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto", "The Cautionary Tale of Adam Neumann and WeWork", "Rebekah Neumann Once Made A Bizarre Short Film Starring Rosario Dawson", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rebekah_Neumann&oldid=1141918464, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 15:09. Reading Time: 4 minutes. In 2018, he got a taste of his own medicine. The planned meeting time came and went as staffers waited in the hotel lobby for their fearless leader. Born in Great Neck, Long Island, and raised in Bedford, New York, the youngest of four children, Rebekah grew up ensconced in privilege.