WeWork Killed the Unicorn Star
The startup’s struggles could mean the end of an era.
Some unicorns face rude awakenings.
Photographer: KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND/DPA/Getty Images
WeWork, now known as The We Company, because why the heck not, is the reductio ad absurdum of the Unicorn Era, as Shira Ovide has written. Mystifying business model? Check. Godlike ownership powers given to the founder? Check. Wrapping an old-school service in a goofball mission statement, such as being a real-estate company aiming “to elevate the world’s consciousness”? Check.
It goes further. We (not the royal, but the company) now wants to put the final Infinity Stone in its Unicorn Gauntlet by going public in an IPO. But public investors are balking at the company’s extremes of unicorn ridiculousness. Its IPO filing isn’t helping, Bloomberg’s editorial board observes: The document is full of flowery language that makes no sense and offers little insight into what the company actually does or how it ever plans to make money. It’s a reminder of why the SEC wants companies to use plain English in such filings.