In May 2008, Israeli-born Adam Neumann and American-born Miguel McKelvey established GreenDesk, an "eco-friendly coworking space" in Brooklyn.[1] In 2010, Neumann and McKelvey sold the business and started WeWork with its first location in New York's SoHo district[4] with partial funding from Manhattan real estate developer Joel Schreiber who purchased a 33-percent interest in the company for $15 million.[17] By 2014, WeWork was considered "the fastest-growing lessee of new office space in New York" and was on track to become "the fastest-growing lessee of new space in America."[3] "During the economic crises, there were these empty buildings and these people freelancing or starting companies," Neumann told the New York Daily News.