The Turnaround Playbook: How Sandeep Mathrani Saved General Growth Properties and WeWork

Sandeep Mathrani has built a career stepping into chaos—and fixing it. From leading General Growth Properties out of bankruptcy during the Global Financial Crisis to taking over WeWork after the board removed Adam Neumann, he’s become one of the most respected turnaround CEOs in real estate. In this episode, Sandeep delivers a true masterclass on running companies and fixing broken ones. If you’re in real estate, private equity, or leadership in any industry, this episode isn’t just a conversation—it’s a playbook.

We cover:

• His “glass completely full” mentality—reframing problems as opportunities instead of problems
• How he rebuilt GGP one asset at a time, despite massive complexity
• The 50–30–20 rule: which assets to sell, scale, and optimize
• His disdain for the word “busy”—and what it really signals
• The 3 keys to loan workouts: reputation, plan, and exit
• Walking into WeWork and realizing the math didn’t work—and cutting $2.5B in expenses to survive