WeWork to be Acquired by Founder Neumann for $3.9 Billion

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, Adam Neumann, the co-founder and former CEO of shared workspace operator WeWork, has proposed to acquire WeWork for $500 million WeWork filed for bankruptcy protection in November last year.

Sources said it is not yet known how Neumann will raise the acquisition funds.

WeWork responded that it has received expressions of interest from third parties to acquire the company, and the board of directors and advisors are evaluating the relevant proposals.

Under Neumann’s leadership, WeWork’s corporate valuation once reached $47 billion, making it the most valuable start-up in the United States. Afterwards, in 2019, after WeWork cancelled its planned initial public offering (IPO) listing, Neumann was ousted from WeWork’s board of directors by its largest shareholder, SoftBank.

Was Kicked Out 5 Years Ago

Neumann’s representative lawyer wrote to WeWork’s advisors last month, claiming that he would seek to make a takeover offer to the company in conjunction with hedge fund Third Point and other investors. However, sources revealed on Monday that Third Point was actually not involved in this acquisition.

WeWork, which was once valued at $47 billion and was the largest private occupant of office buildings in Manhattan, New York, went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) after its listing plan failed in 2019. However, expensive rent costs, coupled with the change in people’s working patterns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have put the company in financial trouble. It filed for bankruptcy protection in November last year, involving $19 billion in debt and $15 billion in assets.

The company is on the brink of bankruptcy.

A WeWork spokesperson said the company is focused on the restructuring work and is committed to emerging from bankruptcy in the second quarter to become a financially sound and profitable enterprise; at the same time, it is not surprised by the offer from a third party to acquire, and the board of directors and its advisors will study the relevant proposals to ensure the long-term interests of the company.

As for Neumann’s real estate company, Flow, it received $350 million in funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in 2022 with a valuation of $1 billion. Its business is mainly focused on the residential market.