WeWork facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
WeWork Inc.

Type	Private limited company
Traded as	OTC Pink: WEWKQ (2023) NYSE: WE (2021–2023)
Industry	Commercial real estate
Founded	2010; 15 years ago (2010)
Founders	Adam Neumann Miguel McKelvey
Headquarters	New York City , U.S.
Number of locations	154 locations in 35 countries (2024)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John Santora (CEO)
Services	Coworking
Parent	Cupar Grimmond, an affiliate of Yardi Systems (60%) SoftBank (20%) Other (20%)

WeWork Inc. is an American company that provides shared office spaces, known as coworking spaces. Headquartered in New York City, it offers both real-life and online shared workspaces. People and companies can rent a desk or an office for a short time instead of leasing a whole building for years.

WeWork was started in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. The company grew very quickly. At one point, it was valued at $47 billion. A company's valuation is an estimate of how much it is worth. Most of this money came from a large Japanese investment company called SoftBank.

In 2019, WeWork planned to become a public company, which means anyone could buy its stock. However, this plan revealed problems with how the company was run. This led to the company's founder, Adam Neumann, leaving his role as CEO. WeWork later became a public company in 2021, but it faced financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy in November 2023.

In 2024, WeWork came out of bankruptcy with new owners. A company called Yardi Systems became the main owner. WeWork reduced its size by closing many locations and changing its rental agreements.

Company History

How WeWork Started (2008–2015)

In 2008, Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey started an eco-friendly coworking space in Brooklyn called GreenDesk. They sold that business in 2010 and started WeWork. Their first location opened in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City in 2011.

Big companies like PepsiCo put some of their employees in WeWork spaces. These employees also helped advise the smaller startup companies that were members of WeWork. This turned the space into a place where new businesses could grow.

By 2014, WeWork was growing faster than any other company renting out new office space in America. It attracted many famous investors, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, and Harvard University. In 2015, Fast Company magazine named WeWork one of the most innovative companies.

Rapid Growth and New Ideas (2016–2018)

A WeWork Coworking Space in Vancouver, Canada.

In 2016, WeWork's value grew to $16 billion after receiving more money from investors. That same year, the company also launched WeLive, a business where people could live in shared apartment buildings. This project was later shut down in 2021.

The company continued to expand all over the world. In 2017, WeWork opened its first space in Bangalore, India. It also received a huge $4.4 billion investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund. This helped WeWork expand into China and Southeast Asia.

During this time, WeWork bought several other companies, including:

• A coding school called Flatiron School.
• Meetup, a website for organizing groups and events.
• A company that made artificial wave machines for surfing.

WeWork even started a private school for young children called WeGrow, but it closed in 2019. In 2018, the company lost over $2 billion as it spent a lot of money on growing its business and on expensive items like a private jet.

A Time of Big Changes (2019)

In early 2019, WeWork was valued at $47 billion after another large investment from SoftBank. The company prepared for an initial public offering (IPO), which is when a private company starts selling its shares to the public on the stock market.

However, when WeWork released its financial documents for the IPO, people became very concerned. The documents showed that the company was losing a lot of money and had complicated business deals with its founder, Adam Neumann.

Because of these concerns, WeWork had to cancel its IPO. The company's value dropped from $47 billion to around $10 billion. Investors asked Adam Neumann to step down as CEO, and he resigned in September 2019. The company then named Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham as co-CEOs.

In October 2019, SoftBank took more control of the company to help save it from failing. Later that year, WeWork announced it would lay off 2,400 employees, which was almost 20% of its total staff.

Challenges and a New CEO (2020)

In February 2020, Sandeep Mathrani became the new CEO of WeWork. He had a lot of experience in the real estate industry.

Soon after, the COVID-19 pandemic began, which caused major problems for WeWork. With many people working from home, fewer companies needed to rent office space. WeWork had to temporarily close some locations and laid off more employees.

During this time, WeWork also sold its business in China and closed 66 locations to save money.

Becoming a Public Company (2021–2022)

In October 2021, WeWork finally became a public company. It did this by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). A SPAC is a company that is created just to merge with a private company to help it go public more easily. WeWork's shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 2022, WeWork closed its offices in Russia because of the international situation. The company also started working with Yardi Systems to create a software product called WeWork Workplace.

Financial Problems and Bankruptcy (2023)

Despite becoming a public company, WeWork continued to struggle with money. By June 2023, the company was spending over 80% of the money it earned on rent and other costs.

In August 2023, it became clear that WeWork might have to file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a legal process for companies that cannot pay their debts. In November 2023, WeWork officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This allowed the company to continue operating while it created a plan to fix its finances.

A Fresh Start (2024–2025)

WeWork emerged from bankruptcy in May 2024. As part of the deal, a real estate technology company called Yardi Systems invested $337 million and became the new majority owner. John Santora, a former executive at a large real estate firm, was appointed as the new CEO.

The company made big changes to become more stable. It got rid of $4 billion in debt and either closed or renegotiated the leases for hundreds of its locations.

By the end of 2024, WeWork's business had improved enough to reach break-even EBITDA. EBITDA is a way to measure a company's performance before taking interest, taxes, and other costs into account. While the company was still not making a profit, this was a major step forward. In early 2025, its performance continued to be positive, though it was still spending money to upgrade its locations.

Employee Concerns

During its time of rapid growth, WeWork faced several lawsuits from former employees. Some of these lawsuits claimed that the company did not treat all of its workers fairly. For example, some former employees said there were issues with unequal pay and that they were replaced by younger workers. These cases brought attention to the company's workplace culture.

Notable Locations

WeWork has offices in many famous buildings around the world, including:

• 

  WeWork Jongno Tower in Seoul

• 

  WeWork location at the Jongno Tower in Seoul

• 

  WeWork location, 1 University Avenue, Toronto

• 

  WeWork location on Rhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C.

• 

  The kitchen area at the WeWork location on Broad Street in Manhattan

• 

  WeWork location in San Francisco

In the Media

The story of WeWork's rise and fall has been told in TV shows and books.

TV Shows

• WeCrashed is an 8-episode show from Apple TV+ that was released in 2022. It stars Jared Leto as Adam Neumann and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Rebekah Neumann. The show is based on a popular podcast and follows the company's journey.
• WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn is a documentary released by Hulu in 2021. It explores how the company grew so large and then faced major problems.

Books

Several books have been written about WeWork and its founders. These books look at the company's business decisions and the personalities of the people who led it.