# Whoever buys WeWork is a genius.

**Published by:** [Durwin](https://paragraph.com/@durwin/)
**Published on:** 2023-12-26
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@durwin/whoever-buys-wework-is-a-genius

## Content

WeWork went up and down in valuation like a roller coaster on steroids.WeWork was once worth $47B. It is now worth less than $45M. It’s shares now costs less than a dollar. You can literally call it a penny stock now. WeWork’s rollercoaster ride through the stratosphere of valuations absolutely legendary. From a jaw-dropping $47 billion peak to whispers of bankruptcy, the co-working giant’s plummet is the stuff of business legend.Did you invest in WeWork when it IPO-ed? It ain’t worth much now.Why such a nosedive? Well, it’s a cocktail of overvaluation, ambitious expansion, and, frankly, a business model that seemed to ignore the basic principles of economics. And lots of fluff, spiritualism and faith. The big-name backers, from SoftBank to JPMorgan, have watched billions evaporate into thin air. WeWork’s strategy was simple: lease large spaces, spruce them up, and rent them out at a premium. They claimed that they aren’t selling space, they are selling a community.The future of work is still face-to-face, whether you like it or not.Come for the space, stay for the people. Sustainable? Debatable. The model hinged on relentless growth and the perpetual buzz of startup culture. But when the music stopped, WeWork couldn’t find a chair to sit on. Sure, when it had billions in the war chest and Adam Neumann was jet-setting around selling his vision, Wework was pumping. But the economics and financials never quite made sense.WeWork was the next big thing after Uber; what happened?Despite hemorrhaging cash faster than a leaky faucet, WeWork’s global portfolio of prime real estate is not just an albatross. It’s a treasure trove for the savvy investor. These aren’t just offices; they’re potential gold mines in top-tier cities worldwide. So the next buyer of WeWork is the real genius. The next owner could snag this entire network of high-grade spaces for pennies on the dollar. And when the market swings back, as it inevitably does, they stand to reap a windfall. We all know offices won’t go anywhere.I wonder how the people of year 3000 will be working like.People will still need them, maybe less, but we still need spaces. Especially grade A, prime locations to work at. That is what the billions that WeWork raised, bought over the years. The WeWork saga really blows my mind. Softbank invested more than $10B into it and still couldn’t make it work. They forced an IPO on a dying company who had such a controversial founder and still couldn’t make it work. Best part of it all is the mastermind, the founder, the visionary leader of WeWork, Mr Adam Neumann is roaming free and enjoying his best life. He got ousted from WeWork, dove into Web3 when it was hot, raised $350M from a16z on a whim for Flow and then another $70M for Flowcarbon.Adam was the messiah every VC wanted to back, and some VCs are still making enormous bets on him till today.I mean, just pause for a second and absorb that. Wow right! So what will happen to WeWork? More than 700+ locations in 40 countries. Will WeWork declared bankruptcy, fired all the employees, give up all the spaces and kick out all the tenants? What will happen to all the deposits? Who ultimately gained from all this? - Was WeWork doomed to fail from the start? - #WeWork #BusinessModel #RealEstate #Investment #MarketDynamics #Valuation #Bankruptcy #OfficeSpace #CoWorking #SoftBank #JPMorgan #StartupCulture #Economics #PrimeRealEstate #SavvyInvestor #MarketUpturn

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