WeWork
A globally recognized co-working space operator founded in 2010, offering flexible leases and community-oriented work environments as its core value proposition. The company received substantial investment from SoftBank and reached a peak valuation of approximately $47 billion, before a failed IPO attempt and subsequent bankruptcy filing due to governance issues and sustained financial losses.
Timeline (last 90 days)
WeWork claimed its addressable market was $3 trillion, and it ended up going bankrupt.
WeWork's S-1 prospectus disclosed that the company had accumulated approximately $3 billion in losses over the previous three years.
WeWork's prospectus disclosed that Neumann had registered the word 'We' as a trademark and sold it back to the company, a claim Neumann denied in an interview.
WeWork used a self-created metric in its S-1 called 'Community Adjusted EBITDA,' which excluded many normal operating costs.
Neumann held super-voting shares in WeWork, making it nearly impossible for ordinary investors to check management's decisions.
SoftBank led the rescue plan after the failed IPO, injecting an additional approximately $9.5 billion into WeWork, with one of the conditions being Neumann's resignation as CEO.
When Neumann left WeWork, he received a combined compensation package of approximately $1.7 billion, including advisory fees, equity buybacks, and loan forgiveness.
WeWork formally filed for bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11) in 2023 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
During WeWork's collapse, its employee count plummeted from 13,000 to 3.
SoftBank's Vision Fund was once the world's largest technology investment fund, and its investment in WeWork became one of its most catastrophic loss cases.
12 more timeline events
All Facts (20)
WeWork claimed its addressable market was $3 trillion, and it ended up going bankrupt.
50%UnverifiedWeWork's S-1 prospectus disclosed that the company had accumulated approximately $3 billion in losses over the previous three years.
50%UnverifiedWeWork's prospectus disclosed that Neumann had registered the word 'We' as a trademark and sold it back to the company, a claim Neumann denied in an interview.
50%UnverifiedWeWork used a self-created metric in its S-1 called 'Community Adjusted EBITDA,' which excluded many normal operating costs.
50%UnverifiedNeumann held super-voting shares in WeWork, making it nearly impossible for ordinary investors to check management's decisions.
50%UnverifiedSoftBank led the rescue plan after the failed IPO, injecting an additional approximately $9.5 billion into WeWork, with one of the conditions being Neumann's resignation as CEO.
50%UnverifiedWhen Neumann left WeWork, he received a combined compensation package of approximately $1.7 billion, including advisory fees, equity buybacks, and loan forgiveness.
50%UnverifiedDuring WeWork's collapse, its employee count plummeted from 13,000 to 3.
50%UnverifiedSoftBank's Vision Fund was once the world's largest technology investment fund, and its investment in WeWork became one of its most catastrophic loss cases.
50%UnverifiedAfter WeWork's decline, traditional co-working players such as IWG (the parent company of Regus) actually benefited.
50%UnverifiedAt the time of his resignation as CEO, Neumann held super-voting rights of 5-to-1.
50%UnverifiedWithin one week, Adam Neumann went from being the CEO managing 13,000 employees to having only 3 employees left.
50%UnverifiedIn 2010, Adam Neumann and his partner Miguel McKelvey conceived the ecosystem of WeWork, WeLive, WeGive, and WeShare.
50%UnverifiedWeWork's expansion grew from opening one building in its first year to opening two buildings per day in its ninth year, covering 130 cities, 50 countries, and 70 languages.
50%UnverifiedEach new WeWork building requires 6 to 9 months to break even after opening.
50%UnverifiedWeWork's business model involves leasing large spaces at low prices under long-term contracts (typically 10–15 years), then subletting them after renovation through short-term flexible membership contracts to earn the price difference.
50%UnverifiedIndustrious primarily serves enterprise-level clients, whereas WeWork's core user base consists of small and medium-sized startups.
50%UnverifiedSoftBank lost over $14 billion on WeWork
50%UnverifiedWeWork formally filed for bankruptcy protection (Chapter 11) in 2023 and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
50%UnverifiedMasayoshi Son handwrote investment terms on an iPad and signed them, immediately finalizing a $4.2 billion investment into WeWork China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the parent entity.
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