WeWork
New York-based flexible workspace operator founded in 2010 that runs more than 600 locations in 34 countries. It emerged from Chapter 11 in 2024 under chief executive John Santora.
Industry: Flexible workspace | Location: New York, United States | Founded: 2010
About WeWork
WeWork is a flexible workspace company that leases office buildings and rents desks, private offices and meeting rooms to individuals, start-ups and larger companies on short-term terms. It was founded in New York in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. The idea came from the pair's time working in a partly empty building in Brooklyn, where they persuaded the landlord to let them rent the unused space as shared workspace. The company is headquartered in New York. In 2019 the business was renamed The We Company and was valued at about USD 47 billion, according to CNBC's profile. An initial public offering planned for that year did not go ahead. WeWork went public in 2021 through a combination with a special purpose acquisition company, two years after the originally planned listing. It reached a debt restructuring agreement in early 2023 but soon ran into difficulty again. In August 2023 it warned of substantial doubt about its ability to continue operating, and it pursued a one-for-forty reverse share split to regain compliance with exchange listing rules. Its shares later moved from the New York Stock Exchange to the over-the-counter market. WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey in November 2023, listing about USD 19 billion of liabilities and USD 15 billion of assets. It reached a tentative restructuring deal with SoftBank Group and existing creditors to cut more than USD 3 billion of debt and wipe out most of the existing shares. The company exited bankruptcy in June 2024 and appointed John Santora, a former Cushman & Wakefield executive, as chief executive, replacing David Tolley. After the reorganisation, Cupar Grimmond, an affiliate of Yardi Systems, holds about 60 percent of the company, with SoftBank and other investors holding about 20 percent each. The business shrank during the process, selling its owned real estate and cancelling or amending hundreds of leases. Wikipedia lists 154 locations in 35 countries as of 2024. In February 2025 WeWork's global arm completed the purchase of a 49.9 percent stake in WeWork Brasil. Spanish-language coverage reported that the company reinvested more than USD 80 million in capital improvements in 2025. In the Gulf, WeWork opened its first United Arab Emirates space in Abu Dhabi in 2019, with about 1,200 desks across three floors in Abu Dhabi Global Market, and planned a presence at Hub71. A second UAE location followed at One Central in Dubai.
Leadership
- Adam Neumann, Co-founder
- Miguel McKelvey, Co-founder
- John Santora, Chief Executive Officer
- Luke Armstrong, Regional President, EMEA and APAC
- Bruna Neves, Head of WeWork Brazil
- Riad Thoumas, General Manager, UAE