We workThe shared office space company was once valued at $47 billion. Appeared The company emerged from bankruptcy on Tuesday and named Cushman & Wakefield executive John Santora as its new CEO.
WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November with total liabilities of $18.65 billion and total assets of $15.06 billion. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a surge in vacancies, compounded by the economic downturn and plummeting valuations of tech companies, exacerbating WeWork’s financial difficulties.
Santoula will be the company’s fourth permanent CEO in the five years since the company’s failed initial public offering in 2019 and subsequent restructuring. He succeeds David Torrey, who became CEO in October. The announcement came more than a week after WeWork’s May 31 target date for an exit. WeWork also announced a new board of directors that includes Anant Yardi, CEO of property management software company Yardi Systems.
During Tory’s brief tenure, WeWork entered bankruptcy protection. The company has since renegotiated more than 190 leases and exited more than 170 “unprofitable” locations, one company said. release.
Santora previously Cushman & WakefieldHe is chairman of Tri-State and is retiring from a commercial real estate company after 40 years there.
WeWork’s downsizing of its real estate portfolio has reduced annual rent and leasing expenses by more than $800 million and freed up an additional $400 million in equity capital. WeWork said last week that its portfolio now includes about 45 million square feet in 600 locations in 37 countries.
WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Neumann led the company through years of historic growth and large fundraising rounds. He was fired in 2019 shortly after WeWork’s IPO prospectus was published. The company eventually went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021, only to have shareholders wiped out two years later.