At its core, WeWork is a global company that offers membership-based access to private offices and coworking spaces for companies and individuals. But WeWork is also known for its dramatic financial rise and fall, as well as its cultlike company culture, both of which were chronicled in a popular 2022 Apple TV+ show called “WeCrashed,” starring Jared Leto as WeWork cofounder and former CEO Adam Neumann.
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Once valued at $47B, WeWork promised to revolutionize office space—but rapid expansion, financial red flags, and a pandemic-driven shift in work culture led to its 2023 bankruptcy. This overview looks at its rise and fall, and what’s next for the coworking giant.
WeWork makes money by entering long-term leases with office buildings, then providing flexible lease options to its members on a short-term basis. Members get a refreshed, modern space to work in (with consistent coffee on tap, of course), and WeWork gets their consistent membership dues.
WeWork isn’t only known for how it revolutionized modern work, or its spectacular financial rise and fall. It’s also known for its former cultlike company culture under former CEO Adam Neumann, complete with a charismatic leader and “summer camp” company retreats that blurred the lines between work and personal life.
This podcast episode, which includes a telling interview with one of WeWork’s first employees, tells the origin story of WeWork—from Neumann’s drinking and disheveled clothing, to WeWork’s first “summer camp” company party weekends in New York.
In a new era of work where many millennials wanted to work for themselves in offices with exposed brick, cold brew on tap, and casual dress codes, WeWork realized these entrepreneurs and startup workers didn’t want to do it alone.
When WeWork prepared to file for its initial public offering in 2019, its S-1 revealed its poor financial state to the public.
To file for an IPO, a company must file a registration form called an S-1 or prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. S-1s detail a company's current business model, competitive landscape, and other financial information.
When WeWork’s S-1 came out, investors were particularly concerned about WeWork’s expenses far outpacing its growing revenue and its complex company structure, as well as a few potential conflicts of interest within the company.
Step inside one of WeWork’s “summer camp” retreats full of drugs, alcohol, and exorbitant company spending.
This podcast episode chronicles the complete rise and fall of WeWork—from its founding in 2010 to its eventual 2023 bankruptcy.
The United States is home to more than 33 million businesses, the vast majority of which are small businesses, with millions being created (and others closing shop) every year. These businesses often rely on loans, provide the goods and services that keep the economy flowing, and sometimes even grow large enough to enter public markets or provide private investment opportunities. Explore key topics central to business and finance, from the role of the Federal Reserve to how initial public offerings work, how millions of American students finance higher education, and more.