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WORLDVIEW: WeDon’tWork – How WeWork fell before rising
As a private entity, short-term office rental company WeWork attracted billions in funding. Then came its fateful and, so far, failed attempt at an IPO.
As a private entity, short-term office rental company WeWork (recently rebranded as the We Company to encompass various other ventures, like a company that makes artificial wave pools for surfers) attracted billions in funding from some of the world's biggest investors, including SoftBank's tech-hungry Vision Fund. A January 2019 SoftBank investment valued the company at $47bn and it looked like the sky was the limit for We.
Then came We's fateful and, so far, failed attempt at an IPO.
When the We IPO launched, investment banks were bandying around valuations in the order of $50 to $100bn. But when the rubber hit the road, they found that investors were turning up their noses at a valuation of just $15bn.
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