The definitive inside story of WeWork, its audacious founder, and what its epic unraveling says about a financial system drunk on the elixir of Silicon Valley innovation-from the Wall Street Journal correspondents whose scoop-filled reporting hastened the company's downfall.

"An amazing portrait of how grifters came to be called visionaries."-Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit

WeWork would be worth $10 trillion, more than any other company in the world. It wasn't just an office space provider. It was a tech company-an AI startup, even. Its WeGrow schools and WeLive residences would revolutionize education and housing. One day, mused founder Adam Neumann, a Middle East peace accord would be signed in a WeWork. The company might help colonize Mars. And Neumann would become the world's first trillionaire.

This was the vision of Neumann and his primary...