WeWork Posts $264 Million Quarterly Loss, as It Expands Globally

Revenue more than doubled ahead of a planned initial public offering.

A colored glass wall is illuminated at the WeWork Cos. 32nd Milestone co-working space in Gurugram, India, on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. The New York-based co-working giant WeWork Cos, which operates shared office spaces around the world, has attracted huge piles of investor money, which it uses to snap up office space in the largest cities on earth.Photographer: Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Ellen Huet

May 15, 2019 at 9:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

WeWork Cos. said Wednesday that sales growth accelerated and losses slightly narrowed in the first quarter. The New York company, one of the country’s most valuable startups, is preparing to test public investors’ appetite for another tech-infused, cash-burning business after the disappointing debut of Uber Technologies Inc.

The company, which leases office buildings, renovates them and rents space to workers, reduced its loss to $264 million last quarter, from $274 million a year earlier. Revenue more than doubled to $728 million in the same period, as did membership. The losses were driven by development costs, which almost tripled to $160 million, and marketing expenses, which more than doubled from a year ago to $141 million.