WeWork co-founder presents bid to buy back the company

Adam Neumann has offered more than £350m in an attempt to regain ownership of the problematic shared office space organisation.

Back in November last year, WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, suggesting the potential end of the company. However, last month it become known that the former co-founder of WeWork, Adam Neumann, was trying to meet with the company to negotiate a deal to buy it outright. Now, Neumann has made his offer.

Flow, Neumann’s property company – which is expected to launch this year, but details are yet to be released – claimed last week that it had submitted a bid with a ‘coalition of half a dozen financing partners.’ The Wall Street Journal, who were the first to report on the offer, said it was tabled at more than $500m, which equates to £350m.

In a statement shared with Reuters, WeWork said their organisation is ‘extraordinary’ and it’s ‘no surprise we receive expressions of interest from third parties on a regular basis.’

The company added: ‘Our board and our advertisers review those approaches in the ordinary course, to ensure we always act in the best long-term interests of the company.’

Neumann, who was once tipped to join the ranks of the world’s richest people, resigned as chief executive of WeWork in September 2019. Earlier that year, the company invested heavily in long-term leases for some of the world’s most expensive real estate markets, amassing almost 800 locations that spanned 39 countries.

However, investors were sceptical of the terms of the stock listing, including demands that each of Neumann’s shares should carry 20 times the votes of ordinary stock, and that his wife should have a say in selecting his successor should he die. As a result, the IPO was postponed, and Neumann later left the company altogether.

Images: P. L. and Brandon Hooper

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