How WeWork Went From $47B Startup to Bankrupt Penny Stock | WSJ What Went Wrong

[@Anderson_Se7en]

I worked on a contract that was based out of a we work. Hated everything but the coffee in that place. I found out a few months later that they called themselves a tech company. I was like, but they just lease office space. That was in 2020, after the pandemic hit I knew it was just a matter of time, and here we are. I still don’t know what they saw in this to value it so high. Just goes to show that valuations are a whole bunch of bs.

[@cliffgaither]

@Anderson :: The people prosecuting Trump would agree with your last sentence. Greed causes blindness. The creator of wework's must have been a smooth operator ; a smooth talker from the Obama school and like Obama, he left office extremely rich. This is a very good example as to why people continue to talk about Marx&Engels !

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

Maybe it has something to do with the people in the place? I worked in two different ones and visited others. They were all very nice. At the time of the crazy CEO they offered free beer on tap. Can't get much better than that..

[@Rensune]

Familiar with Modern Art? How NFTs? Some "companies" are just like that. Hollow shells worth nothing.

[@steveperreira5850]

Wall Street sucks. They have no sensibility in valuing things. When you are a privileged spoiled brat and you’ve never done anything in your life of consequence, you have no way of measuring anything. That applies to just about everyone on Saul Street.

[@f430ferrari5]

Typical YT scammers. Sam Bankman Fraud types

[@HeartlessWon506]

I was a WeWork client in Colombia and in Costa Rica. The prices were way too high and the workspaces were often filled with snobs.

[@fresjsscwwtm]

experienced the same lol. the interior was nice, but the vibe inside was very meh

[@safye4]

Attracted basically clones of Neumann lol.

[@alastairhewitt380]

Yeah they are completely out of touch on how much it should cost. Renting an office space from them is higher than a lot of people pay for rent in South America

[@LeonLoukeris]

Here in Shanghai also, at covid times the prices were still very high.

[@krishnakumar-pp8ie]

Snobs 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@gemmastaines5706]

“We curate and create culture” Adam Neumann That’s a guy who really did sell a pipe dream

[@ctrl-shift-run8681]

Who knew that taking a long term lease and breaking them up into shorter leases was considered Tech? Also, it's a business that's been done long before and mostly with disastrous results. At least Uber came up with some fancy GPS monitoring.

[@soup3097]

he got really lucky with stepping down right before the pandemic and getting that severance

[@andrewvo8395]

I’m actually surprised at how stupid these VC firms are. It’s the Theranos mindset. They aren’t as smart as they’d have you believe, gambling without any consequences.

[@dmalka336]

Investing is a long game, though. You always anticipate losses - it's about gaining in excess of losses over time. Valuations have been waaaay overblown, though, and are now going through corrections as money dries up and companies' revenues aren't coming close to their previous valuations. This WeWork does sound like a disaster, though. What is with that jet purchase??

[@kkp4297]

VC's don't put all their eggs in one basket. They know 9 out of 10 will be duds. but one winner will pay for all losses. supposedly.

[@alessandrosilveira9009]

It is the business model that we have today that is contributing to it... I mean... big results on a very short time... I would take the risk to say that most of the VCs are looking for the next Microsoft, Google, Amazon... and when the short term is the goal... this is the direction...bankruptcy or fraud

[@leealex24]

Looks like my small company is better off than a so called "47 billion company".

[@jonathantaylor6926]

@@kkp4297 Yet ARK returns are lower than just holding SPX.

[@kenglucktan8996]

The golden era of scammers. The smart ones got away with billions of dollars to his name while the dumb ones found jail time (SBF).

[@klt9874]

Thank you!

[@jonathantaylor6926]

It wasn't really a scam... granted he did some sketchy things like personally trademark "We" and sell it back to the company... but he mostly did what he said was going to do.. it was more of a terrible business model than a scam and for whatever reason investors ignored the very obvious problems with the business and invested anyway. There were profitable companies within the same space that were valued at a fraction of WeWork and it never made any sense. It doesn't appear Neumann ever actually lied or cooked the books or anything like that...

[@SevenClips__]

​@@jonathantaylor6926he walked away with $1b leaving the company with huge debt. How isn't that a scam?

[@joe-vl3nd]

Spot on👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@ZX235w3]

@@jonathantaylor6926 Was it really WeWork's own fault though? Like the video pointed, the main catalyst is Covid and WFH. No one could predict that. You could say the same about airlines if not for airlines being propped up by governments

[@iwhswyr4896]

"To elevate the world's consciousness" what a comedy 🤣

[@mbg9650]

Branding...

[@cliffgaither]

"To create culture". Even funnier.

[@jonathantaylor6926]

If I was a potential investor thats the moment I would have walked out.

[@untouchable360x]

"Who is the genius? The artist who created the painting or the salesman who sold it for $1 million dollars?" Irving Rosenfeld, American Hustle

[@erickim3710]

Both

[@bumblebootwiddletoes5185]

My answer is it's the artist because unless they're one of the best of all time there's no one willing to pay that. Plus the "salesman" is usually a collector of old art, someone who happened to find a rare piece in their grandmother's attic, or an auction house. Anyway, valuable art is almost always a solid investment.

[@CadyCadwell]

Well at least you know whose the idiot that just parted ways with their $1million..

[@atulkumar943]

​@RajinderYadav even when the art is a banana with a tape?

[@aslamnurfikri7640]

I'd say both. The painting who painted beautiful paintings and the salesman selling arts to rich people looking to launder money. Both do their jobs well

[@aslamnurfikri7640]

So now wework is wedon'twork?

[@robyn_southafrica]

😮🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤭

[@robyn_southafrica]

😮🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤭

[@margauxlowery4324]

we wont work is better

[@robvision3888]

If a company can’t hold its valuation for over 15 years minimum… just consider it a volatile investment

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

I would be more worried about who actually valued it in the first place… and based on what?

[@shsd4130]

"Volatile investment" aka gamble

[@robvision3888]

@@AlphaGeekgirl you can fake and manipulate companies/product valuations for a few years, but it’s really hard to fake average evaluations for a decade and a half. In this case everyone knew wework was destined to crash

[@Emanzz139]

Office leasing sounds like a bad idea

[@TheWebstaff]

Enron called and asked if you'd like to invest. Trump's going to be the next one. You can't even trust long standing valuations when there are corrupt accountants out there.

[@wayneoneill5265]

I've watched a number of videos about this company and I still don't understand how this was supposed to be successful. I'm no business expert but it always seemed like a scam to me.

[@tbraghavendran]

Over expansion.

[@vintagegal7376]

The story is so much more than thus short clip. Watch the documentary...its wild

[@selvakumarmurugesan9013]

Common Desk in Dallas area is great which is a subsidiary of WeWork.

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

That is a smart dude, create a company, overvalue it, get fired and collect $1 billion in severance. Company goes bust soon after.

[@Alanc419]

The offices were pretty cool. Loved that you could sit on various open-space floors and work. The phone booths were great for Zoom or other virtual meetings or when you didn’t feel like sitting in an open space or your designated office location. Also loved the all-day beer-on-tap 🍺 😂. Gonna miss that WeWork office a ton!!

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

They cut the beer soon after the crazy CEO left with the money. I think they'll keep many locations open for a while.

[@Oceansta]

All day beer on tap for free? 😮

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

@@Oceansta Yes, local craft beer. All day.. well it depended on availability a bit. It opened for lunch and closed at the end of the day. There were times they had no beer but a new delivery was soon to come. And nothing is free, you pay for the office. Nevertheless it was a great idea that differentiated wework at the time.

[@USA-qm2bk]

How do you have a meeting in a phone booth

[@DJ_POOP_IT_OUT_FEAT_LIL_WiiWii]

@@USA-qm2bk there's a bench inside and you use your computer camera for virtual meeting. I've seen two persons in the booth once which looked uncomfortable..

[@clouddragonz]

The remote working model kills it. Also I think its enter of barrier is too low might be another reason.

[@xavdeman]

Work from home is absolutely superior and much cheaper than WeWork.

[@klt9874]

This was absolutely a scam. In fact, we had so many of these companies that were labeled as "tech" companies but were instead the opposite. This was the whole era of "disruption". Sigh!!!

[@Godsknight]

Wow they had this video edited before they went bankrupt, wow!

[@cadon35]

They’re probably editing the one for Twitter now 😂

[@vkwagh2738]

There is nothing to be surprised about. We saw it coming when softbank involved most of them fail.

[@tmoss89]

Facts I thought of ther too whos next

[@AnythingJW]

a story of how greedy investors can always be duped by 1 fanatic.

[@chuckfinley3542]

It’ll be interesting to see if there’ll be any attempt to clawback some of that severance pay that Adam so richly un-deserved.

[@JCJW101]

Regus seems like a very successful and established player in this space. Id love to know how they compare.

[@davemerkury]

I am more convinced that when you look a certain way, it seems easier to swindle major companies out of money that could be used to invest in their infrastructure….rinse and repeat.

[@ldwabananattqw]

WeWork Files for Bankruptcy and I made WeWork's case my project in forensic accounting and got A+ I'm the only winner in term of Wework history

[@yijiequ662]

is Wework's business really disruptive ? what stops office landlords go directly to the tenants in the same way as Wework?

[@jonathantaylor6926]

Adam Nuemanns big break was finding a fellow traveler investor to value his company at 45 million dollars even though it was just an idea (that already existed) and had no assets or revenues.

[@CoryLafund]

One thing people should know is that a crash and bullish market provides equal high-yield potential, it's all about information and strategy application, I've seen folks make huge 7 figure profit in crashing market and pull it off much easily in bull market. Personally I’ve made over $310k in this year. There are lots of opportunities in the market, unfortunately people are not utilizing them.

[@NaomieEvaAddams]

What opportunities are there in the market and how do I profit from it?

[@Derrickdustin]

@@NaomieEvaAddams There are quite a number of undervalued stocks and Defi assets available in the market, get in on them. You can also short the market, there’s a lot that can be done to maximize profit.

[@adijkhady2840]

I'm very interested in investing and I have good sum of which I'm willing to put in with the right information. Tried investing in stocks myself a few times but I’ve never been in luck picking stocks.

[@Derrickdustin]

@@adijkhady2840 Having an advisor is essential for making high yields investment, portfolio growth and diversification as well as Capital preservation which is just as important as the stocks you buy.

[@terry5468]

The mistake most newbies make is rushing into trading without adequate knowledge or guide

[@phototristan]

Reminds me of Uber- something that is super useful and makes sense for customers, but not managed well at all.

[@Fiorellandia]

I think it stills works very well en Europe since it's target consumers are digital nomads, here they have WeWork in all countries and flying from one country to another costs about 50 euros. What my friends do is they travel from one country to another and they can work from any WeWork office, it's very convenient for them. I only been to the one in Paris, my friend went to work there and took me along, we could see the Eiffel Tower from the rooftop, the place seemed cool and I stole a glass, one of those that says "always half full" I still have it hehe.

[@CliffHuxtableSweater]

Well… I’m no Warren Buffet but when your CEO has an American Greed Episode…while you’re still in business, that ain’t a great sign. -To the point I thought the plane was headed toward the side of the mountain when I saw that episode. Was shocked when I saw this news😂😂😂 I was like “wait… the American Greed guy??” Wow.

[@traetonmcglohon4563]

I thought they already declared bankruptcy before. This was a long time coming. ⌛️

[@Sam19509]

For a Bankrupt company WeWork had enough dough for a notable product placement in the new Michael Fassbender movie The Killer playing in theatres now and later dropping on Netflix on November 10. It is a great movie Fassbender will likely be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in a tough awards season category this year.

[@MsOrangeSoul]

At its peak, I looked at Wework and kept thinking… this business doesn’t make sense, why do investors think this is a good idea? I thought maybe I don’t have that executive level forward thinking mindset hence I don’t see opportunities there. but hey here we are, listening to how this business is now bankrupt.

[@tbraghavendran]

The idea was simple and good, but execution was bad.

[@WeylandLabs]

Whats sad about WeWork is their were ways to save it but they didn't adopt innovations. Old leadership and management consultants drove that company into the ground what a shame !

[@srami004]

Isn’t this the second time?

[@zhanglotus6647]

Still love wework more than 20+ locations in nyc alone, free breakfast and events all the time

[@timhartigan3260]

How were they ever considered a tech company?

[@landsurfer66]

“I work!” ~Ed Bassmaster

[@AH-fm7rj]

Softbank and others should have sued Adam Neuman. But they kept it quiet with a hope that they can salvage the rest of this shipwreck. I bet they are regretting now.

[@miscellaneous9932]

Softbank is greyed out in the video ;D 01:17

[@Lp-ze1tg]

During pandemic WeWork at home. After pandemic WeWork still work at home for some people. 😁

[@NewsSeriously]

This is a good move. Now someone else can buy it and the bankruptcy allows them to renegotiate the lease. The landlords have no other option.

[@NewsSeriously]

@mipmipmipmipmip I do not think so. they are filing for bankruptcy because rent for most of these buildings are up and they are empty or not having enough occupancy to cover the rent.

[@SnorriTheLlama]

@@NewsSeriouslySimilar to gas companies going bankrupt because they offered fix rate contracts at a low price, but were then exposed to pricing fluctuations in the spot rate (like that caused by Ukraine). i.e. A shock causing a large correction in the market

[@mrgj7025]

The tables turned. For a change the investors loose out. Good for him.well played.

[@Czechbound]

I nearly worked for a competitor way back before WeWork had started. They were expanding at a huge clip, but when I raised the question during my interviews about how matched LT liabilities with ST assets ( rent receivable ) they mentioned break clauses. The follow up question about how quickly they could break a lease, and source another office in the same city district got a lot of "eh, um" questions. I wasn't offered the job ( I would have taken it as they were paying well ).

[@RDCFemmes]

It sounds like they missed out

[@Czechbound]

@@RDCFemmes Your very kind.

[@maxmeier532]

If you want to know how Neuman could fool so many people he met: He's really tall.

[@infinitiamg1860]

the ftx guy

[@plm8830]

People definitely gained from this. Spending money borrowing money people are living rich without paying any taxes for sure.

[@abramswee]

Everyone needs a place to stay and right now, rents are at all time high. There aren't enough residential homes to go around. So instead of renting out workspace, why not WeWork change it to WeLive, convert empty office and mall spaces into residential units. Instead of indoor plumbing, they can have common toilets and bathroom. Security will be tentamount and the company can provide security guards to maintain law and order within the building. I see this as a win-win situation.

[@wayneoneill5265]

You're describing a prison.

[@honestreviewer4864]

You thought you ate with this one?😂

[@jayski9410]

What I don't understand is why the stock exchanges let companies with no profits do IPO's with them. In the old days, you not only had to be profitable but had to show a track record of profitability to get on the exchange. And how many times are these supposed brilliant venture capitalists going to fall for these nerdy "tech" personalities like Adam Neumann, Elizabeth Holmes, or Sam Bankman-Fried?

[@Jinjinajin]

Adam Neumann. Sam Bankman-Fried. Bernie Madoff. What is the running theme here?

[@ypcomchic]

We work= middleman realtor.

[@bret9741]

We build culture…… lol, please. Culture of any value is based on years, decades and often centuries of striving with one another.

[@SWRDFSH3850]

We Work No More

[@michaelsmith953]

lets not forget the softbank vision fund investment which has even companies like apples money behind it XD

[@HabitualLine-Stepper]

VCs: We invest in founders, not businesses... Adam Neumann: I know...

[@maestrovso]

WeWork agilely pivoted to WeQuit.

[@shutthedoor2052]

can't imagine the noise

[@arron-oz9vb]

Someone will buy it and lower fees and rebrand, revamp the business model

[@ChrisMorgan86]

WeWork had no assets. I wasn't surprised

[@backseatpolitician]

The old ceo sounded like a con artist.

[@FelixBibian]

there’s a wework here in Long Beach CA

[@Doty6String]

I live in the mecca of this stuff...the bay area. there are SOOOOOOOO many of these kinda companies. this is the only beginning.

[@leopard5810]

the pandemic completely changed the picture. in many metro cities, employees are only required to come back 1 or 2 days a week. Plus, homies are occupying the cities. so Wework has nowhere to go but failure

[@PinkDiamond7777777]

I'm shooketh. More layoffs, though. So sad.

[@candiesestore88]

Which faux tech IPO is next? Air bnb maybe? Uber & Lyft, one of them has to go too...

[@mbg9650]

About all SPACs.

[@justrandomthings319]

Definitely Lyft.

[@KCNwokoye]

Many companies will follow suit with such business models. It's crazy how people buy into businesses that do not have any real bankable assets. We just assume that people who work in Silicon Valley are smarter than us when they simply just love to take crazy risks that often put lives at risk.

[@Rishabh-Dev]

My sesame seed oil business is growing at decent growth.

[@martinwagnerproductions]

Under chapter 11 bankruptcy they can now change their name to “WeBroke”

[@frank4uever]

Adam Newman and Elizabeth holmes would make a perfect couple.. lolz

[@RobustArid379]

High inflation and cost

[@bennett2873]

Mr. Neumann seems to be playing a finite game within an infinite game ☕ Gives me Vietnam flashbacks.

[@Nernst96]

Our economy struggling with uncertainties, housing issues, foreclosures, global fluctuations, and pandemic aftermath, causing instability. Rising inflation, sluggish growth, and trade disruptions need urgent attention from all sectors to restore stability and stimulate growth.

[@whereisjustice5112]

Everyone still missed Steve Jobs. But only 1 Steve Jobs in this world.

[@Jim-nt7xy]

WeWork was hyped and talked up by the i-bankers and VCs, when it reality the company just sublets office space.

[@HondaMom]

They charge a crazy amount and then spend their money on nonsense like high profile Intellectual Property Lawyers 🙄🙄

[@sihyunkevinwi]

Business model problem

[@swedesam]

So, Elon is the anomaly in this 'chaotic management' business model.

[@maxmeier532]

Let's wait another 5 years and see. The only thing imo that sets Elon apart from the rest is so far his investors have made money. If that ever changes, the tall tales of travel to mars, cybertrucks, Autopilot will catch up. It's kind of the opposite of the saying among short sellers, "You might be broke before you're right". For Elon so far it's been, "you might be rich before you're wrong". Mind you, Tesla was basically broke at least once before but hype and subsidies saved it.

[@RomanBelisarius]

Maybe in most of his businesses, but not his newest one Twitter/X. He seems to be running it down to a burning pile alright.

[@techman8817]

Elon is an actual engineer and saw the lack of proper investment into space travel and electric cars as an opportunity.

[@chandlerfreeman1633]

I don't see any difference in Tesla and weWork as weWork a real estate company with

[@nicholasscott1803]

Did I hear him say they will have to "cancel a ton of leases, cancel their debt"? Crazy poorly run companies can cancel their debt but not millions of americans with student debt?

[@switch1237]

Exactly

[@Addictedtocollecting01]

This is satisfying to watch.. Sadly, there not done yet.. Like a bad tooth that needs to be pulled.

[@rhenceocampo3253]

What went wrong: greed

[@anamrake]

It looks like the valuation was more on the charisma of the founder/marketer rather than the soundness of the business model. And the top lenders were all guilty to gamble in and give money to it. That tells you how much you can trust your money with fund managers these days.

[@PresidentBob1989]

Saw this coming from a mile away.

[@ianpatrick23]

What a crazy story

[@bradlafferty6076]

No education, no prior business success, no money, just lots and lots of hot air.

[@mind-of-neo]

"desk rental giant" is wild

[@johnnydoe3603]

Remember The People at the Top of those Investment Firms Write themselves Fat Cheques for their Hard Work. 🤣🤣

[@MarkPineLife]

In my humble opinion they should have bought the buildings instead of leasing and releasing.

[@MrPatrick1414]

Such a shame. Such a great idea and business concept...just bad timing with covid and all!

[@ninobasset8176]

Won’t be missed !

[@GodsOath_com]

We work went bankrupt before. But seems no one believed it last time.

[@Capitulum11]

What a moment for Wework to file for bankruptcy 🍎

[@Isabel-lb9fg]

WSJ needs to get an intern to get rid of all their spam comments. It's on every video and the majority of their comments.

[@dewardshrewd6729]

he isnt ethical but he understands how money flows

[@milao1162]

In contradiction, Newman was not the person who started COVID 19, he just built his business, made a deal and took his money, all was fair.

[@Netryon]

Everything is justifiable for a information technology generation the students for them to get required education and a feeling of that life, but corporate life is never as Holywood dream. We actually had some mud slide mountains scanning.

[@Kardlonoc]

nowadays you can simply run your business out of a Panera or Starbucks.

[@SkepticalChris]

The same people who thought Adam Newman was some tech genius would have been the same people who think Russell Brand is some intellectual genius rather than the serial rapist with a thesaurus,

[@RudieObias]

It looks like WeWork has to RE-work its business model 😅

[@DannyKetch-lp8co]

I’m watching the miniseries now

[@KhushpreetKaur-g2i]

In which year we work company fail ?

[@RobSchellinger]

"How We Got Here" I imagine the WSJ quit giving them free advertising in multiple daily articles. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@emersonr7481]

Not surprised. It was inevitable.