At the end of 2023, WeWork was placed in receivership. The business model of this American specialist in shared workspaces had taken it to the highest peaks of stock market valuations at $50 billion. But the company faltered in the wake of the pandemic, which accelerated telecommuting in companies, and also due to poor management of its operating costs. Having come a long way, the company is counting on the recent rationalization of its real estate assets to make a strong comeback in the business landscape.
Telling the story of WeWork is not just about the dangers inherent in corporate hypergrowth and the hybris of the corporate decision-maker. The story of a charismatic leader so plagued by megalomaniac behavior that he was forced out of his own company by the Japanese investment fund Softbank, the same company that had made him king…
It’s also about discovering the hidden power of words in a pitch that can take you to the top… provided, of course, you can deliver on your promises to investors.
For example, WeWork’s controversial co-founder and CEO, Adam Neumann, had no qualms about turning what wasa simple real estate subletting company (with no real estate assets)… into a tech company. All this at a time when money was flowing and the word proptech was not yet circulating in the aisles of trade shows…
However, the WeWork adventure has not yet said its last word: placed in receivership at the end of 2023, and severely affected in the American and Canadian markets, the company could well be back on its feet… in Paris. This could be the result of a far-reaching restructuring and the retention of the company’s most solid locations.
An overvalued idea
Founded in New York in 2010, WeWork is the brainchild of Miguel McKelvey and the whimsical Adam Neumann. Together, they seek to reinvent the workspace. Two phenomena support their flair. On the one hand, employees and managers are suffering fromgrowing individualism in gray open spaces. On the other, modern-day buccaneers, freelancers and other entrepreneurs, tired of their solitude, are looking for networking opportunities.
In these high-end office buildings sub-let to professionals, conviviality and flexibility are the watchwords. The practice of coworking may already exist, but Adam Neumann had the audacious and irresponsible idea of presenting WeWork as a tech company.
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Featured Photo: © DR
