WeWork said it was going to transform the market for office space, reinvent the way people work and elevate the world’s consciousness. But in recent weeks, the brutal reality beneath the lofty visions has emerged.
After failing to go public, the company was running out of money fast and needed a bailout. On Tuesday, WeWork’s largest outside investor, SoftBank, provided a last-ditch lifeline — a multibillion-dollar takeover that would wrest control from Adam Neumann, WeWork’s co-founder and former chief executive.