WeWork: Is it nearly the end for the ‘future of work’ office firm?
WeWork, the office leasing company, is headed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a number of reports in the US overnight.
The firm has been battling a substantial debt pile for years and earlier this year flagged ongoing concerns and worries to investors.
Bankruptcy protection in the US would give the firm, which once badged itself as leading a workplace revolution, some time to perform open-heart surgery on its finances.
Shares in the company crashed in after-hours trading on Wall Street yesterday, falling by more than a third.
The shares have lost more than 95 per cent of their value since the turn of the year.
WeWork had looked set for a bumper float in 2019 before concerns over then-boss Adam Neumann’s leadership emerged in the weeks prior to its IPO.
The float was eventually shelved until 2021.
The company lost £700m in the first six months of the financial year in 2023, fighting against a slow-to-return workforce in the United States in particular.
The Softbank-backed company reported only a 72 per cent occupancy rate in those same half-years.
The firm is sitting on around $3bn worth of debt, and is also on the hook for more than $10bn in long-term leases it has already signed.
It is not clear what would happen to employees in a Chapter 11 situation.
WeWork did not comment in response to the original story published in the Wall Street Journal.