This $12 Billion Startup Nearly Imploded. When the Founders Revealed Their Wild Plan to Save It, Their Team Was Like, 'Whaaat?'Brex made a corporate credit card that was a runaway success. But when they started making a bunch of other stuff, things went south. So they came up with an ambitious plan to reverse course.

When a handful ofBrexexecutives traveled to Santa Barbara for a leadership offsite in August 2021, instead of enjoying the breezy California beaches, they filed into a windowless, subterranean hotel meeting room. There, they holed up for three days — debating, soul-searching, and hair-pulling, their stress ricocheting off the four walls around them.

They were there to save the company.