WeWork To Close Manhattan Headquarters, One Of Its Largest Coworking Locations

This series goes deep with some of the most compelling figures in commercial real estate: the deal-makers, the game-changers, the city-shapers and the larger-than-life personalities who keep CRE interesting.

For Jesse Stein, becoming the global head of real estate for a giant brand like  Airbnb wasn't close to his career goal. 

In fact, for the longest time, the goal was flying fighter jets. When the Air Force Academy didn’t work out due to his history of concussions, the goal became playing in the NFL. 

And Stein did get there. After walking on to the Florida State University football team as a punter while studying finance and real estate, he eventually earned a scholarship. He then was picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars and even starred on the first season of “Hard Knocks” before eventually getting cut.

“That was hard,” Stein said. “When you train for something your entire life, and you make it close to the mountaintop and you get cut.”

Stein then made a pivot, getting scooped up as a financial analyst thanks to a previous internship at Starwood Vacation Ownership. As a result, he traded in two-a-day practices for 18-hour days running financial models.  “I'm the son of a five-foot-six lawyer. He had no athletic ability at all. So I…

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