WeWork Inc. is an American company headquartered in New York City that provides coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities worldwide.
WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Over the following 10 years, the company raised $12.8 billion in financing at valuations as high as $47 billion, mostly from the SoftBank Vision Fund, led by Masayoshi Son. In September 2019, the company filed documentation to become a public company and revealed issues with corporate governance. Investors forced both the cancellation of the IPO and the resignation of Neumann.[3][4] The company went public via a merger with a SPAC instead, but filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on November 6, 2023.[5] As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, in 2024, Cupar Grimmond (an affiliate of Yardi Systems) acquired a 60% stake in the company, 20% was acquired by affiliates of SoftBank, and 20% was acquired by other investors. The company shrank its operations, selling all owned real estate and cancelling or amending hundreds of leases.
History
2008–2015
In May 2008, Israeli Adam Neumann and American Miguel McKelvey established GreenDesk, an "eco-friendly coworking space" in Brooklyn.[6] In 2010, Neumann and McKelvey sold the business and founded WeWork, renting its first location in SoHo, Manhattan, which opened in April 2011.[6] Manhattan real estate developer Joel Schreiber purchased a 33% interest in the company for $15 million.[7]
In 2011, PepsiCo placed a few employees in the location, who acted as advisors to smaller WeWork member companies, making the location a startup incubator.[8][9]
By 2013, WeWork customers included 350 startups such as Fitocracy and HackHands.[10]
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 [lessor] of new space in America." WeWork investors as of 2014 included J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, T. Rowe Price, Wellington Management, Goldman Sachs, the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Benchmark, and Mortimer Zuckerman, former CEO of Boston Properties.[11][12]
In February 2015, WeWork was named to Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies list.[13] On June 1, 2015, Artie Minson, former chief financial officer of Time Warner Cable, joined the company as president and chief operating officer.[14] In August 2015, the company acquired CASE, a real estate and construction technology company, in its first acquisition.[15][16] According to its founder, the speed of the transaction damaged the organizational culture of CASE.[17]
2016
In March 2016, WeWork raised $430 million in financing from Legend Holdings and Hony Capital, valuing the company at $16 billion.[18][19][20][21] In June 2016, the company announced layoffs of 7% of its staff and implemented a temporary hiring freeze.[22] In July 2016, WeWork fired and sued Joanna Strange, an employee who leaked information to the press that showed that WeWork would miss its financial goals.[23] By October 2016, the company had raised $1.7 billion in private capital.[24] In October 2016, WeWork announced plans to open a fourth location in Central Square, Cambridge, with space for 550 desks. WeWork opened offices in Boston's Leather District and Fort Point in 2014.[25] It also announced plans to open a location in Lincoln Square in Bellevue, Washington.[26]
In 2016, WeWork launched a separate but related co-living venture called WeLive in New York City and in Crystal City, Virginia, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the Washington metropolitan area.[27][28][29] A third WeLive location in Seattle was planned in the new Third and Lenora building in 2020, but the lease was terminated in October 2019.[30] In July 2021, WeWork terminated this business line.[31]
2017
In April 2017, WeWork launched an online store for services and software for its members.[32][33] In May 2017, WeWork opened a luxury health club at its Broad Street, Manhattan location.[34] The space includes exercise equipment and a boxing area, general workout area, spa, and a yoga studio with fitness classes.[35][36][37][38] In June 2017, in partnership with Embassy Group, WeWork India, led by then 25-year old Karan Virwani, son of the Embassy Group owner Jitu Virwani, opened its first space in Bangalore, India, named WeWork Galaxy, with capacity for 2,200 members.[39][40][41] In July 2017, the company raised $760 million in a Series G financing round valuing the company at $20 billion.[42][43] Also in July 2017, WeWork announced expansion plans into China, with US$500 million invested by SoftBank and Hony Capital.[44][45] In August 2017, the company raised $4.4 billion from the SoftBank Vision Fund at a valuation of approximately $20 billion.[46][47][48][49] In September 2017, WeWork expanded into Southeast Asia via the acquisition of Singapore-based SpaceMob, and it allocated $500 million to grow in Southeast Asia.[50]
In October 2017, WeWork signed a contract to acquire the Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan from the Hudson's Bay Company for $850 million, with additional plans to invest over $450 million on a renovation.[51] The deal also included the use of floors of certain HBC owned department stores in Germany, New York, Toronto, and Vancouver as WeWork's shared office workspaces.[52][53] The transaction closed in February 2019.[54][55] The building was sold to Amazon.com in March 2020 for $1.15 billion.[56]
In October 2017, WeWork acquired Flatiron School, a coding school.[57][58] It was sold in June 2020.[59] In November 2017, WeWork invested in The Wing, a co-working space for women.[60] It sold the stake in January 2020. Also in November 2017, WeWork acquired Meetup for approximately $156 million.[61][62] It was sold at a loss in 2020.[63] In the same month, WeWork invested in Wavegarden, which designs and manufactures artificial wave devices.[64][65] In addition, during November 2017, WeWork announced that in the fall of 2018 it would launch WeGrow, a private school for children aged 3 through students in grade 4.[66] The first permanent location was in WeWork's New York headquarters.[67] In September 2019, Rebekah Neumann resigned as CEO of WeGrow.[68] WeGrow closed at the end of the 2019 academic year.[69] In December 2017, WeWork opened its first location in Singapore.[70]
2018
In January 2018, students taking online university courses from 2U were given access to WeWork common spaces and meeting rooms.[71] In December 2018, WeWork opened its first location on a college campus at the University of Maryland, College Park.[72][73] In March 2018, WeWork raised over $400 million alongside Rhône Group, a private equity firm to start a fund to purchase properties directly.[74] Also in March 2018, WeWork acquired Conductor.[75][76] Conductor executives bought back the company from WeWork in December 2019.[77] In April 2018, WeWork acquired Chinese coworking operator Naked Hub for $400 million.[78][79][80][81] In May 2018, WeWork acquired MissionU, a self-styled college alternative, for $4 million in stock. MissionU was wound-down shortly afterwards and students were not charged tuition. Cash was returned from MissionU to its investors. MissionU's CEO went on to become COO of WeWork's kindergarten program, WeGrow.[82] In July 2018, the company restricted employees globally from being reimbursed by the company for meals that contained pork, poultry, or red meat for environmental and animal rights reasons. The firm also announced that it would not provide meat for events at its locations nor allow meat at self-serve food kiosks in its locations.[83][84][85] In July 2018, WeWork raised $500 million to expand its business in China, valuing its Chinese subsidiary at $5 billion.[86] In August 2018, WeWork's Flatiron School acquired Designation, a for-profit design school.[87][88] In September 2018, WeWork acquired Teem, an office management software company, for $100 million.[89] It was sold to iOffice in 2020.[90] In November 2018, SoftBank acquired a warrant to buy up to $3 billion worth of shares in the company by the end of September 2019 at a $42 billion valuation.[91]
In 2018, the company purchased a Gulfstream G650 business jet for more than $60 million, cited as an example of CEO Adam Neumann's excessive spending.[92]
In September 2018, the company eliminated broad-based employee non-compete clauses to settle a lawsuit from the Attorney General of New York.[93]
WeWork lost over $2 billion in 2018.
2019
In January 2019, WeWork raised an additional $2 billion from SoftBank at a $47 billion valuation. SoftBank considered investing as much as $16 billion but downsized plans due to turbulence in financial markets and opposition from investors. The investment brought SoftBank's total funding in WeWork to over $10 billion.[94][95]
In April 2019, WeWork acquired Managed by Q, a platform that office tenants can use to hire service providers.[96] It was sold at a loss in March 2020.[97] On April 29, 2019, WeWork filed a draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering.[98] By July 2019, Adam Neumann had liquidated $700 million of his WeWork stock.[99]
On August 14, 2019, the company filed Form S-1 in preparation for an initial public offering.[100][101] The filing revealed significant losses, expensive lease agreements, and a complex relationship with founder Adam Neumann.[102][103] It also disclosed $47 billion of future lease obligations and only $4 billion of future lease commitments.[104][105] The company was then "besieged with criticism over its governance, business model, and ability to turn a profit."[92]
The company changed the legal name of WeWork to We Company and, according to the August 2019 Form S-1 filing, the firm paid $5.9 million to an entity owned by Adam Neumann and other WeWork founders for brand licensing the name.[106][107] In early September 2019, Neumann returned the $5.9 million to the company for the use of the trademark and gave the company all of the trademark rights for the "We" family trademarks.[108]
On August 27, 2019, WeWork acquired Spacious, a company that leases unused space from restaurants during daytime hours and then rents this space to remote workers.[109] Spacious was shut down 4 months later, in December 2019.[110]
On September 4, 2019, WeWork added its first female director, Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei, to the company's board of directors.[108]
On September 13, 2019, the company announced changes to its corporate governance to include the ability for the board of directors to pick a new CEO and not having CEO Adam Neumann's family members on the board. Neumann also agreed to transfer to the company any profits from his real estate deals with the company.[111][112]
On September 17, 2019, amid growing investor concerns over its corporate governance, valuation, and outlook for the business, WeWork formally withdrew its S-1 filing and announced the postponing of its IPO.[113] At that time, the reported public valuation of the company was around $10 billion,[114] a reduction from the $47 billion valuation it achieved in January and less than the $12.8 billion it had raised since 2010.[115] In mid-September 2019, unrelated to the company's delayed initial public offering, Wendy Silverstein, the co-head of WeWork's real estate investment fund ARK, departed the company.[116] By September 23, 2019, SoftBank wanted Neumann removed as chief executive.[117] The following day, amid mounting pressure from investors, company co-founder Adam Neumann resigned as CEO and gave up majority voting control in WeWork. Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham were named co-CEOs of the company.[118] That same day, WeWork put its Gulfstream G650 aircraft up for sale. Critics said the plane had become a "red flag in the leadup to the company's IPO" and had created problems with employees who didn't receive promised bonuses or raises.[119]
In October 2019, Neumann received close to $1.7 billion from SoftBank for resigning from WeWork's board of directors and severing most of his ties to the company.[120] The $1.7 billion included $970 million for his remaining shares, a $185 million consulting fee, and a $500 million credit to assist him to repay his loans to JPMorgan Chase.[121] He was retained as a consultant with an annual salary of $46 million.[3]
In October 2019, WeWork abandoned plans to open an office in the U.S. Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh. The company had planned to build out as much as 105,000 square feet in the building.[122][123]
On October 14, 2019, WeWork warned clients that approximately 1,600 office phone booths at some of its offices in Canada and the United States were tainted with formaldehyde. The company said another 700 phone booths would possibly be taken out of service as a precautionary measure. This situation came to the attention of the company after some members reported eye irritation and a strong odor.[124][125][126][127]
On November 6, 2019, SoftBank Group wrote-down $9.2 billion on its investments in WeWork, approximately 90% of the $10.3 billion SoftBank invested in WeWork.[128] On November 21, 2019, WeWork announced layoffs of 2,400 employees, almost 20% of its workforce globally.[129]
In 2019, WeWork filed for a trademark for and launched a new business line called "Play by We", an initiative aimed at the esports and gaming industry. The venture's first location was opened at 500 7th Avenue in New York City, providing dedicated physical spaces featuring professional gaming gear, streaming facilities, and community areas for gamers.[130] Similar to other non-core ventures, the project was part of the company's efforts to diversify its brand prior to its attempted IPO in late 2019.
2020
In January 2020, WeWork began phasing out free beer at all North American co-working locations and announced plans for a slower growth rate.[131][132] On February 1, 2020, WeWork announced that Sandeep Mathrani, a former senior executive at GGP Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners, would become CEO of the company, effective February 18, 2020.[133] On February 3, 2020, WeWork opened its first location in the Middle East outside of Israel[134] in Abu-Dhabi's technology park Hub 71 under the name WeWork x Hub 71.[135]
In February 2020, the company began closing locations temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[136] In late March 2020, WeWork laid off 250 employees in an effort to lower expenses, followed by another round of employee layoffs at the end of April 2020.[137][138]
In April 2020, SoftBank, then the largest shareholder of WeWork, cancelled its $3 billion tender offer to buy shares directly from some of WeWork's other major stockholders, citing failure by WeWork to obtain certain regulatory approvals, new criminal and civil investigations, and required COVID-19 lockdowns as reasons for withdrawing the offer.[139] SoftBank was then sued by WeWork[140] and former CEO Adam Neumann.[141] The lawsuits were settled in February 2021; terms were not disclosed.[142]
In June 2020, McKelvey left WeWork.[143]
In September 2020, the company sold a majority interest in its China business for $200 million.[144]
In 2020, the company vacated 66 locations and negotiated lower rent, deferrals, or other lease changes at more than 150 others.[145]
2021
In April 2021, WeWork was sued by landlord Walter & Samuels for breach of contract when it closed locations and failed to pay rent.[146][147] WeWork then paid off its arrears but the landlord faced foreclosure after defaulting on the mortgage loan.[148] In May 2021, WeWork was also sued by landlord Oxford Properties Group for failing to pay $1.8 million in rent.[149]
In August 2021, WeWork was one of five co-working providers selected by the General Services Administration to provide services for the Federal government of the United States.[150]
In October 2021, the company became a public company via a $9 billion merger with BowX Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company, and shares of WeWork began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.[151][152] Mathrani remained as CEO but Vivek Ranadivé from BowX and Deven Parekh from Insight Partners joined the new board of directors.[153][154]
In October 2021, WeWork announced a partnership with Cushman & Wakefield that included a $150 million investment in WeWork.[155][156]
2022
In January 2022, WeWork announced the acquisition of Common Desk.[157][158]
In March 2022, due to the international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, WeWork closed its offices in Russia.[159] Later in 2022, the company announced that it was developing a software product with Yardi Systems called WeWork Workplace.[160]
In May 2022, WeWork named Andre Fernandez as its CFO. He replaced Benjamin Dunham, who departed after 18 months at the company.[161]
2023
In May 2023, facing financial trouble, the company exchanged its debt for debt with longer maturities, offering interest rates as high as 15.00%.[162]
As of the end of June 2023, the firm had more than 700 locations in 39 countries worldwide.[163] At the time, WeWork spent more than 80% of its revenue on rent and interest, paying over $2.7 billion a year.[164]
By August 2023, with Chapter 11 bankruptcy imminent, the company hired Alvarez and Marsal to advise on a restructuring.[165] It also received a cash infusion from BlackRock, King Street Capital Management, and Brigade Capital as part of a potential bankruptcy plan.[166][167][168]
In November 2023, the company filed bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, listing liabilities of approximately $10 billion to $50 billion.[169] The company also filed recognition proceedings in Canada under Part IV of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Locations outside the United States and Canada and WeWork franchisees were not part of the bankruptcy.[170][171][172] SoftBank made a $1.5 billion payment to Goldman Sachs and other creditors days prior to WeWork's bankruptcy because SoftBank guaranteed WeWork's loans.[173][174][175]
2024
On 30 May 2024, the company emerged from bankruptcy after a deal was reached with creditors and approved by the courts. The bankruptcy proceedings included a failed bid by Adam Neumann to buy the company for $500 million. Instead, Yardi Systems, a real estate technology provider and creditor to WeWork, invested $337 million, acquiring a 60% stake, and Anant Yardi was added to the board of directors of WeWork. An additional $113 million was invested by hedge funds in exchange for a 20% stake.[176][177] John Santora, formerly an executive at Cushman & Wakefield, was appointed as CEO the following month.[178][179] As part of the bankruptcy reorganization, the company eliminated $4 billion in debt, cancelled leases at about 160 of its 450 locations and amended more than 170 office leases.[180][181][182][183]
In June 2024, WeWork sold its stake in WeWork India to Embassy Group, exiting the Indian market.[184]
In December 2024, the company leased 304,000 square feet at 330 W. 34th Street in Manhattan, to be fully leased to Amazon.com, in one of the largest leases of Manhattan office space that year.[185]
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company reached break-even EBITDA for the first time, although it still was not profitable.[186]
2025
In the first quarter of 2025, EBITDA was once again positive, but the company was still cash flow negative as it spent money to upgrade locations.[187]
Discrimination complaints by employees
In October 2018, former WeWork director of culture Ruby Anaya filed a sexual harassment lawsuit claiming that at a company event in January 2018, a male employee grabbed her by the waist and forcibly kissed her and that in August 2017, a different employee grabbed Anaya from behind in a "sexual manner".[188] The suit highlighting the company's "frat-boy culture" also alleged that co-founder Neumann "plied [her] with tequila shots during her interview with the company."[189][190] Shortly after this claim was made, WeWork put an end to its unlimited beer for employees and implemented a policy of only four beers per day in the New York office.[191]
In June 2019, WeWork was sued by the former head of compensation, Lisa Bridges, for gender-based pay discrimination, particularly in granting stock options. She alleged that she was fired after discussing the issue.[192][193]
Also, in June 2019, Richard Markel, a former WeWork executive making $300,000 per year, sued the company for age discrimination after allegedly being replaced with a younger worker.[194] Markel voluntarily dismissed the case in August 2019.[195]
In October 2019, Medina Bardhi, the former chief of staff for Adam Neumann, represented by Douglas Wigdor, sued the company over various allegations including a gender pay gap, marijuana use by company executives, and pregnancy discrimination.[196][197]
In February 2020, Ayesha Whyte, former director of employee relations, sued WeWork for gender and race discrimination, "saying she was promised a well-paying job that never materialized, all while less-qualified white people were promoted."[198] In June 2020, the lawsuit was forced into arbitration.[199]
On July 8, 2020, former WeWork stock plan administrator Diane Allen, and former head of diversity & inclusion Christopher Clermont, filed separate complaints against WeWork, both alleging race discrimination, while Allen also alleged gender discrimination and lack of action over a sexual harassment claim.[200] The lawsuit from Allen was sent to arbitration per her employment agreement.[201]
Notable locations
Notable WeWork locations include:
- 1600 Seventh Avenue
- 330 North Wabash
- 200 Spectrum Center Drive
- Bentall Centre
- Bush Tower
- Central Bank of Ireland
- Constellation Place
- Five Penn Center
- Holyoke Building
- Hôtel de Langeac
- Hotel Europejski
- Madison Belmont Building
- Manhattan Center
- One Nashville Place
- Salesforce Tower
- Totzeret HaAretz Towers
In the media
Visual media
In March 2022, Apple TV+ aired a miniseries, WeCrashed, that follows the launching and fall of WeWork, based on the Wondery podcast of the same name. The show is focused on the lives of the eccentric couple, Adam Neumann (played by Jared Leto) and Rebekah Neumann (played by Anne Hathaway).[202][203][204][205]
In March 2021, Hulu unveiled a documentary titled WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, released April 2, 2021.[206]
Books
External links
References
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- Nicholas Rizzi. WeQuit: WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani Stepping Down to Join Private Equity Firm Observer Media, 16 May 2023^
- Whitney Kimball. Swindled WeWorkers Ask for Dignity Gizmodo, November 8, 2019^
- Elliot Brown. 'This is not the way everybody behaves': How Adam Neumann's over-the-top style built WeWork September 19, 2019^
- Catherine Thorbecke. WeWork files for bankruptcy CNN, November 7, 2023^
- Jason Sheftell. WeWork gives alternative to working at home with swanky buildings across NYC New York Daily News, July 22, 2011^
- Konrad Putzier. The little trick WeWork's Adam Neumann uses to charm investors The Real Deal, October 19, 2017^
- Arlene Weintraub. WeWork Labs Gives New York Entrepreneurs a Home Before They're Ready For an Office Xconomy, April 6, 2011^
- Deborah Sweeney. Best of 2011: My 5 Favorite Startups Forbes^
- Alyson Shontell. WeWork Labs, Home To 350 Founders And Startups Like Fitocracy, Is Opening 2 More Locations Business Insider, February 15, 2013^
- Lindsay Gellman, Eliot Brown. WeWork: Now a $5 Billion Co-Working Startup The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2014^
- Alex Konrad. Inside The Phenomenal Rise Of WeWork Forbes, November 5, 2014^
- WeWork named to Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies WeWork, February 9, 2015^
- WeWork Announces Artie Minson as President and Chief Operating Officer MarketWatch, June 1, 2015^
- Wanda Lau. WeWork Acquires Case Inc. Architect Magazine, August 5, 2015^
- Jordan Crook. WeWork's First Acquisition Is Building Information Modeling Firm Case TechCrunch, August 5, 2015^
- Grace Kay. The founder of a startup bought by WeWork describes how he almost destroyed his 7-year-old company's culture in the span of 24 hours over one simple mistake Business Insider, April 21, 2021^
- Matt Weinberger. WeWork is now a $16 billion company Business Insider, March 9, 2016^
- WeWork raises $430m for push into Asia Financial Times, March 9, 2016^
- WeWork Raises Funds at $16 Billion Valuation for Asia Expansion Bloomberg News, March 9, 2016^
- Michael del Castillo. More like WeRock: WeWork raises up to $780M at a valuation of about $17B American City Business Journals, March 9, 2016^
- Gina Hall. WeWork makes plans to cut workforce, temporarily pause hiring American City Business Journals, June 6, 2016^
- Herbert Lash. WeWork sues ex-employee for disclosing information to reporters Reuters, July 16, 2016^
- Maureen Farrell. WeWork Raises $260 Million, Capping Off $690 Million Funding Round The Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2016^
- Tim Logan. WeWork comes to Cambridge The Boston Globe, October 18, 2016^
- Marc Stiles. WeWork makes it official: co-working giant to open big Bellevue space American City Business Journals, October 9, 2016^
- Sarah Kessler. From WeWork To WeLive: Startup Moves Members Into Its First Residential Building Fast Company, November 1, 2016^
- Lizzie Widdicombe. Happy Together The New Yorker, May 16, 2016^
- Alison Griswold. WeWork is testing how much people will pay to live in its experimental co-living space on Wall Street Quartz, December 21, 2016^
- Katherine Khashimova Long. Beleaguered WeWork and Martin Selig dissolve deal for Seattle tower The Seattle Times, October 15, 2019^
- Jon Banister. WeWork Has Officially Pulled The Plug On WeLive Bisnow Media, July 21, 2021^
- Jordan Crook. WeWork's office takeover continues with the launch of the Services Store TechCrunch, April 25, 2017^
- Sarah Kessler. WeWork wants to make its business look more like cable TV than real estate Quartz, April 25, 2017^
- Barbara Eldredge. WeWork is opening gyms in its office spaces Curbed, Vox Media, May 31, 2017^
- Sarah Jacobs. The most valuable startup in New York City just opened its first gym to compete with Equinox see what it's like inside Business Insider, October 20, 2017^
- Katherine Rosman. WeWork. WeLive. We Work Out. Eventually We Die. The New York Times, October 12, 2017^
- Zachary Edelson. WeWork Opens Its First Gym, "Rise By We" - Metropolis Metropolis, October 20, 2017^
- We Tried Out Our New Workout Gear at...WeWork Goop, January 24, 2018^
- VARSHA MEGHANI. WeWork enters India with a co-working space in Bengaluru Forbes, July 6, 2017^
- WeWork India provides 15,700 sq ft office space in Bengaluru to Khaitan & Co The Economic Times, August 25, 2020^
- Naazneen Karmali. WeWork Gets Going In India With Billionaire Landlord Forbes, February 23, 2017^
- Steven Bertoni. WeWork Hits $20 Billion Valuation In New Funding Round Forbes, July 10, 2017^
- Melia Robinson. WeWork, the company that simulates startup life, is worth more than Twitter, Box, and Blue Apron combined Business Insider, July 10, 2017^
- Julie Zhu, Elzio Barreto. WeWork launches China unit with $500 million funding from Hony, SoftBank Reuters, July 26, 2017^
- Jon Russell. WeWork launches dedicated China business backed by $500M from investors TechCrunch, July 26, 2017^
- JESSI HEMPEL. Why WeWork Thinks It's Worth $20 Billion Wired, September 6, 2017^
- Eliot Brown. SoftBank Finalizes $4.4 Billion WeWork Investment The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2017^
- WeWork Receives $4.4 Billion Investment from SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund Business Wire, August 24, 2017^
- Lora Kolodny. SoftBank plows more than $4 billion into commercial real estate start-up WeWork CNBC, August 24, 2017^
- Jon Russell. China's UrWork invests in Indonesia's ReWork via $3M deal as WeWork rivalry heats up TechCrunch^
- Ian Vandaelle. HBC raising $1.7B in Manhattan property sale and share financing Business News Network, October 24, 2017^
- Hollie Shaw. HBC mulls reported 3 billion euro offer for lagging European business Financial Post, November 1, 2017^
- Hudson's Bay Company Responds to Land & Buildings Press Release November 2, 2017^
- Anthony Noto. Lord & Taylor building is officially sold to WeWork American City Business Journals, February 11, 2019^
- Betsy Kim. WeWork and HBC Close on $850M Lord & Taylor Building Deal GlobeSt.com, February 11, 2019^
- Lisa Fickenscher. Amazon buying Lord & Taylor building for $1.15 billion New York Post, March 12, 2020^
- Selena Larson. WeWork snaps up coding bootcamp Flatiron School CNN, October 23, 2017^
- Jordan Crook. WeWork acquires Flatiron School TechCrunch, October 23, 2017^
- Jordan Crook. WeWork sells Flatiron School to Carrick Capital Partners TechCrunch, June 30, 2020^
- Polina Marinova. Why WeWork Just Invested In This Women-Only Club Fortune, November 21, 2017^
- Gerrit De Vynck. WeWork buys Meetup to bring people together outside of work Chicago Tribune, November 28, 2017^
- Kif Leswing. $20 billion startup WeWork continues its shopping spree with $200 million for Meetup Business Insider, November 28, 2017^
- Sarah Perez. WeWork sells off social network Meetup to AlleyCorp and other investors TechCrunch, March 30, 2020^
- Eliot Brown. WeWork Takes a Dip in the Wave-Pool Business The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2017^
- Anthony Noto. WeWork tests the waters with wave-pool maker American City Business Journals, November 15, 2017^
- Irene Plagianos. WeWork Is Launching a Grade School for Budding Entrepreneurs Bloomberg News, November 6, 2017^
- Christina Bonnington. WeWork is starting an elementary school for 'young entrepreneurs' The Daily Dot, November 6, 2017^
- Michelle F. Davis. WeWork CEO Adam Neumann Stepping Down Fortune, September 24, 2019^
- Rebecca Klein. WeWork Is Closing Its Private School In New York City After This Year HuffPost, October 11, 2019^
- Michael Tegos. WeWork opens its first Singapore venue but has more co-working spaces coming soon Tech in Asia, December 14, 2017^
- Olivia Zaleski. WeWork Is Turning Its Offices Into Study Halls Bloomberg News, January 22, 2018^
- Stephen Babcock. WeWork opens at University of Maryland College Park, its first coworking space on a university campus Technical.ly, December 10, 2018^
- Jon Banister. Inside WeWork's First Location On A College Campus Bisnow Media, February 1, 2019^
- Shona Ghosh. WeWork documents reveal it owes $18 billion in rent and is burning through cash as it seeks more funding Business Insider, April 25, 2018^
- WeWork acquires marketing leader Conductor WeWork, March 6, 2018^
- Yuliya Chernova. WeWork Wades Into Enterprise Software by Buying Conductor The Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2018^
- Anthony Ha. Conductor execs buy their company back from WeWork TechCrunch, December 12, 2019^
- Wework Is Acquiring China's naked Hub for 400 million Bloomberg News, April 11, 2018^
- Jon Russell. WeWork confirms deal to buy Naked Hub, one of its main competitors in China TechCrunch, April 11, 2018^
- Sherisse Pham. WeWork is buying Naked Hub to grow in China CNN, April 12, 2018^
- Anthony Noto. WeWork, now a mishmash of businesses, buys China-based Naked Hub American City Business Journals, April 12, 2018^
- Tony Wan. Acquisition Autopsy: Details—and Questions—Behind MissionU's $4M Sale to WeWork EdSurge, May 30, 2018^
- Joshua Hafner. WeWork bans meat for employees expensing meals, at company events Bloomberg News, July 14, 2014^
- Andrea Leinfelder. Beef lovers call bull on WeWork's meatless edict Houston Chronicle, July 18, 2018^
- Sara Ashley O'Brien. WeWork is banning meat CNN, July 13, 2018^
- Shirin Ghaffary. WeWork has closed a $500 million funding round for its China subsidiary Recode, July 26, 2018^
- Michael Grothaus. WeWork just acquired a Chicago design school Fast Company, August 28, 2018^
- Salvador Rodriguez. WeWork's Flatiron School acquires Chicago design school Designation Reuters, August 28, 2018^
- Anna Hensel. WeWork acquires Utah software startup Teem for a reported $100 million VentureBeat, September 12, 2018^
- Annie Palmer. WeWork sells Teem and its stake in The Wing as it continues to divest non-core businesses CNBC, January 20, 2020^
- Judith Evans. WeWork raises $3bn from SoftBank as losses balloon Financial Times, November 13, 2018^
- Eliot Brown. 'This Is Not the Way Everybody Behaves.' How Adam Neumann's Over-the-Top Style Built WeWork. The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2019^
- GLENN FLEISHMAN. WeWork Settles With New York, Drops Broad Employee Non-Compete Clauses Fortune, September 18, 2018^
- Allison Prang. WeWork Raises Additional Capital From SoftBank The Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2019^
- Connie Loizos. For SoftBank, no majority stake in WeWork as it scales down talks from a new $16 billion investment to $2 billion TechCrunch, January 7, 2019^
- Tomio Geron. WeWork Acquires Managed by Q, Seeking to Expand Beyond Office Leases The Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2019^
- Connie Loizos. Confirmed: Managed by Q sells to rival Eden for what sources say is just 11% of what WeWork paid for it last year TechCrunch, March 3, 2020^
- The We Company Announces Confidential Submission of Draft Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering Business Wire, April 29, 2019^
- Eliot Brown, Maureen Farrell, Anupreeta Das. WeWork Co-Founder Has Cashed Out at Least $700 Million Via Sales, Loans The Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2019^
- Amy Chozick. Adam Neumann and the Art of Failing Up The New York Times, November 2, 2019^
- Elizabeth Lopatto. We Work isnt't a Tech Company; It's a Soap Opera The Verge, August 5, 2019^
- WeWork's IPO filing reveals heavy losses in Asia Nikkei Asia, August 15, 2019^
- Annie Palmer. The strangest and most alarming things in WeWork's IPO filing CNBC, August 17, 2019^
- Troy Wolverton. 2 big numbers — $4 billion and $47 billion — sum up WeWork's business model and the risky reason it could collapse in a recession Business Insider, August 21, 2019^
- FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, August 24, 2019^
- Aaron Pressman. Inside the Bananas, Bonkers, and Unbelievable WeWork IPO Filing—Data Sheet Fortune, August 16, 2019^
- Form S-1: Registration Statement United States Securities and Exchange Commission, August 15, 2019^
- Eric Lutz. Adam Neumann Returns $6 Million He Squeezed From WeWork Vanity Fair, September 6, 2019^
- Anne Sraders. WeWork Continues Consolidation Spree with Acquisition of Spacious Fortune, August 27, 2019^
- Shirin Ghaffary. WeWork is shutting down a restaurant coworking startup it acquired only 4 months ago Recode, December 12, 2019^
- Eric Platt, James Fontanella-Khan, Adam Samson. WeWork overhauls corporate governance in bid to save IPO Financial Times, September 13, 2019^
- Gillian Tan, Ellen Huet. WeWork Was a Family Affair, Until Things Got Complicated Bloomberg News, September 28, 2019^
- Despite a hot year for IPOs, WeWork's stock sale is delayed CBS News, September 17, 2019^
- Annie Palmer. WeWork pulls IPO filing CNBC, September 30, 2019^
- Joshua Franklin. WeWork delays IPO after frosty investor response Reuters, September 16, 2019^
- Wendy Silverstein, co-head of WeWork's real-estate fund, is out The Real Deal, September 20, 2019^
- Taylor Telford. Adam Neumann's chaotic energy built WeWork. Now it might cost him his job as CEO. The Washington Post, September 23, 2019^
- Ari Levy, Eugene Kim. WeWork's new co-CEOs have experience at tech giants like Amazon and AOL CNBC, September 24, 2019^
- Meghan Morris. WeWork is selling the company's $60 million luxurious private jet that Adam Neumann and his family personalized and used to fly all over the world Business Insider, September 26, 2019^
- Maureen Farrell, Eliot Brown. SoftBank to Boost Stake in WeWork in Deal That Cuts Most Ties With Neumann The Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2019^
- Todd Haselton, Alex Sherman. WeWork's Adam Neumann offered package worth up to $1.7 billion to step down from board CNBC, October 22, 2019^
- Mark Belko. WeWork abandons plans for U.S. Steel Tower office Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 16, 2019^
- Tim Schooley. WeWork deal at 600 Grant Street falls through American City Business Journals, October 16, 2019^
- Annie Palmer. WeWork alerts members that at least 1,600 of its office phone booths are tainted with formaldehyde CNBC, October 14, 2019^
- Natasha Lomas. WeWork pulls thousands of phone booths out of service over formaldehyde scare TechCrunch, October 14, 2019^
- Ed Shanahan. WeWork Warns Tenants That 2,300 Phone Booths May Be a Hazard The New York Times, October 14, 2019^
- Cancer-causing chemical found in WeWork phone booths The Guardian, October 14, 2019^
- Erik Sherman. SoftBank Group Writes Down $9.2 Billion on WeWork—and That's Only the Beginning of the Bad News Fortune, November 6, 2019^
- Annie Palmer. WeWork lays off 2,400 employees CNBC, November 21, 2019^
- S. Dodd. WeWork is moving into esports with a new brand called 'Play by We' Business Insider, October 1, 2019, retrieved March 16, 2026^
- Aaron Mak. Are WeWorks in Revolt Now That the Company Is Taking Away Free Beer? Slate, January 29, 2020^
- Polina Marinova. WeWork's other cofounder has a plan to save the company. It's the opposite of what Adam Neumann envisioned. Fortune, January 22, 2020^
- Peter Eavis. WeWork to Name New Chief The New York Times, February 1, 2020^
- David Rosenberg. WeWork Brings Its New Kind of Office to Israel Haaretz, 18 December 2014^
- WeWork comes to the UAE Mashable, February 3, 2020^
- William Feuer, Berkeley Lovelace. Coronavirus live updates: WeWork closes 100 buildings, UK confirms new cases CNBC, February 10, 2020^
- Ellen Huet, Gillian Tan. WeWork Cuts Another 250 Jobs in Further Attempt to Trim Costs Bloomberg News, March 28, 2020^
- Samantha Sharf. WeWork Unraveling Continues With New Layoff Round Forbes, April 30, 2020^
- Natasha Lomas. SoftBank terminates $3B tender offer for WeWork shares TechCrunch, April 2, 2020^
- Lauren Feiner, Alex Sherman. WeWork board sues SoftBank over withdrawal to buy $3 billion worth of shares CNBC, April 7, 2020^
- Peter Eavis. Adam Neumann, WeWork's Former Chief, Sues SoftBank The New York Times, May 5, 2020^
- Shariq Khan. SoftBank reaches settlement with former WeWork CEO Neumann Reuters, February 26, 2021^
- Deirdre Bosa. WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey is leaving at the end of the month CNBC, June 5, 2020^
- Sam Shead. WeWork sells majority stake in its China business for $200 million as cost cutting continues CNBC, September 24, 2020^
- WeWork's Revenue and Membership Shrink in Third Quarter Bloomberg News, November 12, 2020^
- Akiko Matsuda. WeWork slapped with $37M lawsuit by Chelsea landlord The Real Deal, April 23, 2021^
- Miriam Hall. WeWork Sued For $37M After Landlord Says It Skipped Rent, 'Surreptitiously' Moved Members Elsewhere Bisnow Media, April 26, 2021^
- Walter & Samuels faces Midtown foreclosure after WeWork split The Real Deal, September 21, 2023^
- Catherine Carlock. WeWork sued for $1.8M in back rent after closing South Station coworking space American City Business Journals, May 20, 2021^
- Tristan Navera. GSA picks five coworking providers, WeWork included, to serve the federal workforce American City Business Journals, August 26, 2021^
- Grace Dean, Theron Mohamed. WeWork has agreed to become a public company via a SPAC merger. The deal values it at $9 billion, less than a quarter of its 2019 valuation. Business Insider, March 26, 2021^
- Maureen Farrell, Konrad Putzier. WeWork in Talks to Combine With SPAC or Raise Money Privately The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2021^
- Giles Turner. WeWork agrees to $9 billion SPAC deal in new path to go public Fortune, March 26, 2021^
- Samantha Subin. WeWork shares jump more than 13% in public markets debut after SPAC merger CNBC, October 21, 2021^
- CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD MAKES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT OF $150 MILLION IN WEWORK Cushman & Wakefield, October 29, 2021^
- Peter Grant. WeWork and Cushman & Wakefield Are Forming $150 Million Partnership The Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2021^
- Brian Womack. WeWork acquiring DFW co-working company Common Desk American City Business Journals, January 25, 2022^
- Maddy Sperling. WeWork buys Dallas-based Common Desk in first acquisition since going public The Real Deal, January 25, 2022^
- Grace Dean. WeWork says it will close its Moscow offices, a week after its CEO said there were no plans to leave the Russian market Business Insider, March 8, 2022^
- Ellen Huet. WeWork Wants to Be a Tech Company Again, Sort Of BQ Prime, April 13, 2022^
- WeWork Names Andre Fernandez as CFO The Real Deal, May 27, 2022^
- Latham & Watkins Advises on WeWork's Debt Exchange Offers Latham & Watkins, May 10, 2023^
- Will Bain. WeWork to start closing some offices around the world BBC News, 2 November 2023^
- Eliot Brown, Konrad Putzier. Adam Neumann Wounded WeWork, an Office Market Bust Finished It Off The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2023^
- WeWork hires Alvarez & Marsal for lifeline restructuring Consultancy.uk, 30 August 2023^
- Nathan Gomes. Wall Street funds explore potential bankruptcy plan for WeWork - WSJ Reuters, August 24, 2023n^
- Reshmi Basu, Erin Hudson. WeWork's Creditors Are Fighting Over Control of the Restructured Company Bloomberg News, 26 October 2023^
- Hanna Ziady. WeWork's shares plunge amid bankruptcy reports CNN, November 1, 2023^
- What caused the WeWork bankruptcy, and why does it matter? ABC, November 7, 2023^
- Rohan Goswami. WeWork, once valued at $47 billion, files for bankruptcy CNBC, November 6, 2023^
- Khristopher J. Brooks. WeWork — once one of the world's hottest startups — declares bankruptcy CBS News, November 6, 2023^
- Sujeet Indap, Eric Platt, Joshua Oliver. WeWork files for bankruptcy amid office market downturn Financial Times, November 7, 2023^
- Eric Platt, Ortenca Aliaj. SoftBank paid $1.5bn to WeWork lenders including Goldman Sachs days before bankruptcy Financial Times, November 8, 2023^
- Callum Jones. SoftBank paid WeWork lenders almost $1.5bn before bankruptcy filing The Guardian, November 8, 2023^
- Emily Gosden. SoftBank lost $1.5bn as WeWork sank The Times, November 9, 2023^
- WeWork set to emerge from bankruptcy BBC News, May 30, 2024^
- Shivangini. Anant Yardi, successor to Adam Neumann, takes over as CEO of WeWork post-bankruptcy Mint, May 31, 2024^
- Wyatte Grantham-Phillips. WeWork has emerged from bankruptcy. What's next for the co-working office space provider? AP News, June 12, 2024^
- Genna Contino. WeWork emerges from bankruptcy, announces John Santora as new CEO CNBC, June 11, 2024^
- WeWork eliminates $4bn in debt after judge approves bankruptcy plan The Guardian, May 30, 2024^
- Dietrich Knauth. WeWork reaches settlement with creditors, rebuffs Neumann bid Reuters, April 29, 2024^
- WeWork announces restructuring plan that cancels $4bn in debt The Times, 29 April 2024^
- Anna Wise. WeWork hopes to turn a corner after 'painful' global restructuring Evening Standard, June 5, 2024^
- Raghav Aggarwal. WeWork gets CCI nod to sell stake in local unit, exit Indian market Business Standard, June 19, 2024^
- Andria Cheng. WeWork, Amazon partner on one of Manhattan's largest office leases this year CoStar Group, December 2, 2024^
- Alana Semuels. How CEO John Santora Is Helping WeWork Grow Up Time, March 30, 2025^
- Andria Cheng. Smaller WeWork shows improvement in key profitability measure CoStar Group, 8 May 2025^
- Shirin Ghaffary. A former WeWork employee is suing the company over alleged sexual assaults fueled by 'frat-boy culture' Vox Media, October 12, 2018^
- Ashley O'Brien. Former WeWork employee sues for sexual harassment, retaliation CNN, October 12, 2018^
- Maya Rajamani. NYC Woman Assaulted by Two WeWork Employees Amid 'Frat-Boy Culture' That Pervades Coworking Company, Lawsuit Claims WMAQ-TV, October 12, 2018^
- Eddie Small. Party foul? Unlimited beer is no longer a thing at WeWork The Real Deal, November 2, 2018^
- David Jeans. Men take risks and women don't: WeWork's former head of compensation accuses company of gender pay discrimination The Real Deal, June 20, 2019^
- Troy Wolverton. WeWork gave out 58 stock awards worth at least $1 million each in February, and 94% of them went to men, according to a lawsuit Business Insider, August 27, 2019^
- Sara Ashley O'Brien. Former WeWork VP sues the company alleging age discrimination CNN, June 14, 2019^
- Markel v. We Work Management LLC Unicourt^
- Lauren Feuer, William Feiner. Ex-WeWork CEO accused of gender discrimination, smoking pot in front of pregnant staffer CNBC, October 31, 2019^
- David Yaffe-Bellany. WeWork's Ousted C.E.O. Adam Neumann Is Accused of Pregnancy Discrimination The New York Times, October 31, 2019^
- Miriam Hall. WeWork Hit With Gender, Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Bisnow Media, March 1, 2020^
- Whyte v. WeWork Cos.: DECISION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S PETITION FOR CERTIFICATION OF INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL July 31, 2020^
- Kelsey Neubauer. WeWork Hit With 2 More Lawsuits Over Discrimination, Pay Equity Bisnow Media, July 9, 2020^
- allen-diane-v-wework-companies-inc Trellis^
- Shannon Carlin. The True Story Behind WeCrashed Time, March 18, 2022^
- Kelly Gilblom. Apple greenlights TV series 'WeCrashed' about WeWork's rise and fall Fortune, January 29, 2021^
- Lucy Mangan. WeCrashed review – prepare to boggle at Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway's toxic billionaires The Guardian, March 18, 2022^
- Naomi Fry. The Comforts of "WeCrashed" and the Modern Grifter Series The New Yorker, March 28, 2022^
- Jed Rothstein. WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn Hulu^