Adam Neumann, the co-founder and former CEO of WeWork, has submitted a conditional purchase offer of between 500 and 600 million dollars for the company. The office and coworking space rental platform declared bankruptcy last November. According to The Wall Street Journal, Neumann formed “a coalition of half a dozen financial partners” to present the potential offer two weeks ago. Notably, the Third Point fund and the investment firm Baupost Group were not included as possible allies in this potential purchase offer.
WeWork faced difficulties after Neumann’s management and leadership style caused a loss of trust from Softbank, its main investor. The company faced a failed IPO and the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 further affected its ability to sustain its business model focused on shared office spaces. Despite these challenges, WeWork remains focused on emerging from bankruptcy protection of Chapter 11 in the second quarter as a financially sound and profitable company.
Founded in 2010 by Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork declared suspension of payments in November 23 with a debt of $18,656 million dollars and assets of $15,063 million dollars. The company was valued at around $47 billion at one point, and Neumann’s recent purchase offer indicates a potential move towards regaining control of the company he formerly led.