WeWork Inc. (NYSE: WE) was once among America’s most valuable private companies. In early 2019, it was valued at $47 billion, and investor Softbank made $1 billion, which it would regret. Today, after the office-sharing company became a public corporation, a WeWork bankruptcy is about to happen. (These are the 25 biggest bankruptcies in American history.)
WeWork once had thousands of offices. It is overbuilt, and some of those offices never had tenants. However, WeWork had to pay its building owners rent, nevertheless. Rent to building owners became crushing. Along with unsustainable payments, the COVID-19 pandemic emptied its offices.
WeWork is down to less than 800 locations across just under 30 countries. It has dozens of competitors that offer less fancy offices for less money. In part, it was WeWork’s fancy, expensive offices that injured it further. Tenants got free coffee and beer and nearly free board rooms and common spaces.
According to The Wall Street Journal, “WeWork missed interest payments owed to its bondholders on Oct. 2, kicking off a 30-day grace period in which it needs to make the payments.” Its balance sheet is a wreck. It will not find the money. A WeWork bankruptcy will be a reality.
WeWork was built during a period when shared space became popular, along with shared cars. Airbnb became a home-sharing giant. Today, some cities have regulations that will not allow Airbnb customers to use the service. Uber, which struggled, has finally found its footing. WeWork appears to be one of the three that never found its footing.
24/7 Wall St.WeWork’s stock hit $130 earlier this year. The share price has fallen to under $3. The company’s market cap is a mere $120 million. It has become a stock that speculators trade in the hope of making a few pennies a share.
When history looks back on unicorn companies, which are those with values of over $1 billion, WeWork will stand out because of the size of its failure.
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