WeWork’s Path to Turnaround Challenged by Tainted ‘Cool Factor’
- Startup made office-sharing hip but has been mired in turmoil
- Competitors are pitching stability as an advantage to tenants
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Co-working wasn’t new when WeWork came along, but the office-sharing company made it cool, enticing millennials and entrepreneurs with amenities like hip furniture, beer on tap and puppy parties.
Now, after a botched initial public offering, the ouster of founder Adam Neumann and a $9.5 billion bailout from SoftBank Group Corp., the startup faces an uncertain future as it tries to mount a turnaround with its brand tainted by weeks of financial turmoil.