A Brief History of WeWork, the Flying Startup Facing Turbulence

(Bloomberg) -- In less than a decade, WeWork has been a roaring real-estate success, a unicorn of the future -- and a lesson in not believing your own hype. Some directors are planning to push Adam Neumann to step down as chief executive officer. A board meeting is set for Monday, according to people familiar. Here’s a look at the company’s brief and volatile timeline so far:

• 2010: Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelveyfound WeWork to create shared workplaces for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups and small businesses. It opens its first location in the SoHo section of Manhattan.
• 2013-15: Company signs dozens of leases. Some investors grow nervous about the spending binge because it’s assuming fixed long-term commitments based on presumptions about an unpredictable customer base.
• 2016: WeWork opens sites in India, expands into multiple locations in China.
• July 2017: Company announces an expansion into Latin America, including new locations in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia.
• September 2018: WeWork becomes the biggest private office tenant in Manhattan after becoming the largest occupier of office space in London and Washington, D.C., earlier that year.

Investors Start to Cool

• Summer 2018: Neumann reportedly smoked marijuana on a private jet to Israel. The plane company refused to fly him back.
• January 2019: The big rebrand. We Company has three distinct business lines: WeWork, its main office space-rental arm; WeLive, which currently operates two apartment buildings with communal design; and WeGrow, which runs an elementary school in New York City.
• July: Bloomberg reports WeWork is looking to go public in September, and is targeting a share sale of about $3.5 billion.
• Aug. 2: WeWork reportedly seeks $6 billion in financing through a letter of credit facility and a delayed-draw loan, but only if the company raises at least $3 billion in the anticipated IPO.

Big Losses

• Aug. 14: S-1 prospectus is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO. The prospectus lays out losses of $2.9 billion in the past three years and $690 million in the first six months of 2019.
• Sept. 5: WeWork is said to consider a valuation between $20 and $30 billion in its IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. The range could end up closer to $20 billion, says one of the people.
• Sept. 8: Dow Jones reports WeWork considered dropping its valuation below $20 billion.
• Sept. 13: Reuters reports that the company’s valuation has fallen between $10 and $12 billion in the IPO. The company says it will trim the voting advantage that gives Neumann sway over the board.
• Sept. 16-18: WeWork delays IPO to October at the earliest. Its bonds drop the most on record.
• Sept. 20: Wendy Silverstein, the co-head of WeWork’s real estate investment arm, quits.
• Sept. 22: Some board members seek to remove Neumann as CEO.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Moran in New York at dmoran21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew G. Miller at mmiller144@bloomberg.net, James Ludden

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