November 1, 2023
Today at
15:35
The provider of flexible office space wants to file for bankruptcy, according to American media. The remaining stock market value melts away.
WeWork shares
went straight into the depths before the market opened. The stock market value of the group, which was once valued at $47 billion, had already shrunk to $121 million.
Unsustainable
WeWork’s demise had been predicted for some time because its business model was unsustainable. WeWork rents office space on a long-term basis, which it refurbishes into trendy coworking spaces to rent out to customers on a short-term basis. The Covid pandemic, which caused demand for workspaces to collapse, created cracks in the model. High interest rates and the urge to save in the start-up world – an important market of WeWork – did not make the situation any better.
The company had already warned in August that its survival was not guaranteed and that it might seek legal protection. The bankruptcy is another blow to the troubled Japanese investor Softbank, which has pumped billions into the company.
WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. In the first years, the company experienced rapid growth in New York, before expanding in the rest of the US and other countries. The American company also opened a few locations in our country, but stopped that expansion at the end of 2019.
