https://www.scmp.com/rss/502605/feed The latest news, analysis and opinion on WeWork. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Peggy Ye Peggy Ye Global flexible workspace operator WeWork is expanding in Hong Kong as companies scale back long-term office commitments, opening its fifth site in Causeway Bay to tap rising demand for short-term, flexible space amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The new location at Soundwill Plaza II Midtown, owned by Soundwill Holdings, was previously occupied by another co-working operator. WeWork secured the site after competing with several rivals. “In the current uncertain market outlook,... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3351036/wework-finds-new-lease-life-hong-kong-global-uncertainty-drives-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3351036/wework-finds-new-lease-life-hong-kong-global-uncertainty-drives-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:00:15 +0000 Adam Neumann, the Israeli-American billionaire who co-founded WeWork in 2010 – the famous and controversial company providing coworking spaces in a range of pay-as-you-go options – may have been ousted as CEO in 2019, but now he wants back in. Despite a TV series focusing on his flamboyant personality, and his reputation taking a major hit after stories about his unusual leadership style were made public, Neumann has tried to clean up his image. He has started a new business, moved house – and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3259129/what-has-adam-neumann-been-his-wework-ousting-and-can-he-really-buy-company-back-israeli-american?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3259129/what-has-adam-neumann-been-his-wework-ousting-and-can-he-really-buy-company-back-israeli-american?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:00:22 +0000 More office landlords and flexible work space operators are likely to form partnerships that will do away with the traditional lease business that has been “catastrophic” for the industry, according to the founder of The Work Project, a Singapore-based co-working space provider backed by CapitaLand Development. TWP, which has one location in Hong Kong, has secured the backing of Dexus, an Australian real estate company that has an office portfolio of 17.2 million square feet there, and is aiming... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3250887/partnerships-between-landlords-flexible-office-providers-will-kill-traditional-lease-business-model?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3250887/partnerships-between-landlords-flexible-office-providers-will-kill-traditional-lease-business-model?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Feb 2024 01:30:16 +0000 WeWork’s bankruptcy filing caps a years-long saga that revealed breathtaking flaws in the investment style of Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, damaging his professional reputation far beyond the money he lost. Son overrode his lieutenants’ objections and handed WeWork founder Adam Neumann billions of dollars from both SoftBank Group Corp and the Vision Fund, lifting the co-working office space’s valuation to an astronomical US$47 billion in early 2019. Just months later, investors balked at... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3240722/wework-bankruptcy-cost-softbanks-billionaire-boss-masayoshi-son-us115-billion-and-his-credibility?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3240722/wework-bankruptcy-cost-softbanks-billionaire-boss-masayoshi-son-us115-billion-and-his-credibility?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Nov 2023 03:00:17 +0000 WeWork, the SoftBank Group-backed start-up whose meteoric rise and fall reshaped the office sector globally, sought US bankruptcy protection on Monday, after its bets on companies using more of its office-sharing space soured. The move represents an admission by SoftBank, the Japanese technology group that owns about 60 per cent of WeWork and has invested billions of dollars in its turnaround, that the company cannot survive unless it renegotiates its pricey leases in bankruptcy. WeWork China... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3240587/softbanks-wework-once-most-valuable-us-start-succumbs-bankruptcy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3240587/softbanks-wework-once-most-valuable-us-start-succumbs-bankruptcy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Nov 2023 03:27:28 +0000 WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as the SoftBank Group-backed company struggles with a massive debt pile and hefty losses. Shares of the flexible workspace provider fell 32 per cent in extended trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported the news. They have fallen roughly 96 per cent this year. New York-based WeWork is considering filing a Chapter 11 petition in New Jersey, the WSJ reported, citing people... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3239902/wework-plans-file-bankruptcy-early-next-week-source?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3239902/wework-plans-file-bankruptcy-early-next-week-source?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:40:14 +0000 Hybrid work arrangements are likely to persist and become irreversible in the foreseeable future, a trend that is spurring landlords and asset owners to convert traditional office spaces into flexible offices, according to the CEO of IWG, one of the world’s largest flex desk service providers. Globally, companies and organisations are allowing as much as half of their staff to adopt flexible work arrangements, including some combination of working from home, working at a desk in a remote... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3234723/hong-kong-office-landlords-grapple-irreversible-hybrid-work-trend-amid-high-vacancy-rates-supply?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3234723/hong-kong-office-landlords-grapple-irreversible-hybrid-work-trend-amid-high-vacancy-rates-supply?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Sep 2023 02:00:17 +0000 A meeting-space start-up in China, co-founded by an American entrepreneur in 2018 and which tripled in scale during the Covid-19 pandemic, is looking to expand across major Chinese cities despite the country’s growing economic woes and worsening relations with the US. Shanghai-based White Space, which offers venues for events and meetings on demand, has grown from four locations in 2019 to 12 since the beginning of this year. It is now looking to add at least one location each quarter in... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3232365/wework-events-start-eyes-expansion-shanghai-beijing-despite-economic-headwinds-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3232365/wework-events-start-eyes-expansion-shanghai-beijing-despite-economic-headwinds-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Aug 2023 02:00:16 +0000 WeWork’s future is in doubt. Zoom Video Communications, the pandemic poster child of remote work, just told its employees to get back to the office. The headlines suggest that flexible work is on the ropes – yet actually it is thriving. The owner of coworking giant Regus – think WeWork with better cash flow and no leadership drama – just posted its best six-month sales period ever, thanks to a growing list of customers that includes Zoom. LiquidSpace, a digital marketplace where clients find and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3230735/do-i-have-return-office-no-employers-dont-expect-you-there-full-time-flexible-and-hybrid-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3230735/do-i-have-return-office-no-employers-dont-expect-you-there-full-time-flexible-and-hybrid-work?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Aug 2023 01:45:10 +0000 WeWork Greater China, a unit of the US coworking space provider, is once again considering expanding in Hong Kong, having reduced more than half of its footprint in the city during the coronavirus pandemic. The firm, in which Shanghai-based investment firm Trustbridge Partners holds a more than 51 per cent share and WeWork Global has a minority stake, is seeing more Chinese firms trying to seize offshore opportunities, and turning to flexible offices in Hong Kong in the process. “Hong Kong is... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3223689/weworks-minority-owned-china-unit-eyes-hong-kong-expansion-back-demand-web3-and-crypto-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3223689/weworks-minority-owned-china-unit-eyes-hong-kong-expansion-back-demand-web3-and-crypto-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jun 2023 22:00:13 +0000 Co-sharing space WeWork made headlines after its launch in 2010. Founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, the start-up quickly built up a US$47 billion worth – but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, especially when its value dropped to US$2.9 billion in 2020. So what happened? WeWork’s epic rise and fall is portrayed in Apple TV+’s new series WeCrashed starring Jared Leto as Neumann and Anne Hathaway as his wife Rebekah Neumann, the spiritual and strategic driving force behind WeWork. But... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3171699/where-weworks-rebekah-neumann-now-billionaire-adam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3171699/where-weworks-rebekah-neumann-now-billionaire-adam?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Mar 2022 08:58:32 +0000 Apple TV’s latest hit offering WeCrashed has quickly become the talk of the town. Starring Academy Award winners Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, the miniseries depicts the rise and fall of Israeli-American billionaire entrepreneur Adam Neumann and his wife Rebekah Neumann, who is cousin to actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The real-life couple held key roles at WeWork, a start-up commercial property company that was once valued at a whopping price of US$47 billion before its estimated value... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3171391/where-wework-co-founder-adam-neumann-now-real-life-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3171391/where-wework-co-founder-adam-neumann-now-real-life-star?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:58:46 +0000 About half of co-working space provider WeWork China’s office in Parkview Place, Beijing, is occupied by sofas, bookshelves and a kitchen – space dedicated to communal activities. It can be used as a venue for events, and talks by authors and film directors, for example. WeWork provides shared office space for start-ups and freelancers all over the world. The “office salon” at the 4,000 square metre (43,000 sq ft) property in Beijing, the country’s capital, opened in September in collaboration... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3151083/office-salon-co-working-giant-wework-china-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3151083/office-salon-co-working-giant-wework-china-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Oct 2021 23:15:15 +0000 Hysan Development is expanding into the shared-office market in the Greater Bay Area through a joint venture with IWG, the world’s largest flexible workspace operator, as it seeks to cash in on the growing trend of remote working arrangements by companies who are looking to contain costs. The joint venture will acquire and operate IWG’s 32 existing locations and brands across the Greater Bay Area, Hysan said on Monday, without disclosing its investment in the venture. Sixteen of these shared... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144403/hysan-development-iwg-form-flexible-office-joint-venture-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144403/hysan-development-iwg-form-flexible-office-joint-venture-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Aug 2021 11:30:15 +0000 Hong Kong’s co-working sector is on track to stabilise and recover after a period of rapid expansion and will be well supported by the shift to remote working, industry observers say. The co-working industry in Hong Kong is getting better now after adjustments made in the last few quarters, said Patrick Mak, executive director at Knight Frank. “Previously many operators were in overexpansion mode, but then the market adjusted and many closed down and disappeared, creating a new balance point... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3136657/hong-kongs-co-working-sector-set-stabilise-recover-balance-returns-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3136657/hong-kongs-co-working-sector-set-stabilise-recover-balance-returns-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jun 2021 01:30:00 +0000 Danke, battling speculations about its financial viability less than a year after its New York initial public offering, appears to have ceased operating its home rental referral platform in China. The smartphone application of the Beijing-based company, formally known as Phoenix Tree Holding, has stopped listing vacant homes available for rent, their prices, photos or any other information. Danke’s executives could not be reached for comment on Christmas Day, a normal business and market day in... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3115378/danke-stops-property-listings-its-rental-app-china-it-beats-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3115378/danke-stops-property-listings-its-rental-app-china-it-beats-back?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Dec 2020 14:30:07 +0000 SoftBank’s market value dropped by US$10 billion this week after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has been placing huge bets on risky tech investments. And while SoftBank’s founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is the third-richest person in Japan with a US$20.6 billion personal fortune and millions of dollars of real estate in Tokyo and Silicon Valley, this must have hurt. Through SoftBank and his first US$100 billion Vision Fund, Son has invested millions in some of Silicon Valley’s... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/tech-design/article/3101194/amazon-netflix-uber-and-tesla-were-all-backed-softbank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/tech-design/article/3101194/amazon-netflix-uber-and-tesla-were-all-backed-softbank?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2020 22:00:09 +0000 The outlook for the shared office segments in Hong Kong and Guangzhou is gloomy, with demand likely to decrease as the economic slump brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic forces companies to reassess their need for bigger work spaces, according to Colliers International. The office markets in the two cities – both part of Beijing’s Greater Bay Area initiative – will be challenging this year, said a report by the property consultancy. The Executive Centre, which provides flexible office space... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3095939/hong-kong-shared-office-operator-tec-bets-greater-bay-area-boost?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3095939/hong-kong-shared-office-operator-tec-bets-greater-bay-area-boost?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Aug 2020 23:00:11 +0000 IWG, the world’s largest operator of serviced offices, is to take over the space left behind by rival WeWork at Hysan Place in Causeway Bay, where rents have fallen more than 6 per cent recently. The 32,000 square feet of co-working space on the 31st and 32nd floors of the tower, owned by one of the city’s biggest landlords, Hysan Development, was abandoned by WeWork in April. The American flexible workspace giant has vacated a fifth of its Hong Kong premises recently. The uncertain economic... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3087683/flexible-workspace-giant-iwg-takes-over-us-rival-weworks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3087683/flexible-workspace-giant-iwg-takes-over-us-rival-weworks?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jun 2020 05:01:06 +0000 WeWork, the US real estate firm, is returning about 20 per cent of its Hong Kong premises to their owners, as start-ups, small enterprises and other short-term tenants failed to take up its offering of shared working space in the city. It has given up 182,000 sq ft in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui, two of Hong Kong’s prime office districts, according to agents familiar with the matter. Two floors in Hysan Place in Causeway bay and six floors in Sun Life Tower in Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3084074/wework-dumps-about-fifth-coworking-space-breach-leases-signed-major-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3084074/wework-dumps-about-fifth-coworking-space-breach-leases-signed-major-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2020 01:00:16 +0000 WeWork has indefinitely delayed the opening of at least three co-working spaces in Hong Kong that were planned for late last year. Now, market observers believe the coronavirus pandemic could force the company to retreat from the city as it takes a toll on an economy already in recession. The cash-strapped company had planned to open stations in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay and Sun Life Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui at the end of 2019, while its operations in Octa Tower in Kowloon Bay have already been... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3075522/coronavirus-could-be-beginning-end-wework-hong-kong-start?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3075522/coronavirus-could-be-beginning-end-wework-hong-kong-start?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2020 04:00:17 +0000 Among the forces transforming the global property industry, the sharing economy – in which individuals and companies buy or sell temporary access to goods and services via an online platform – has been one of the most disruptive. In the office market, a younger workforce, the battle for talent, the rapid spread of mobile technology and the strong emphasis millennials place on flexibility and office design have turned co-working into a major driver of leasing activity and an attractive asset... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048667/co-living-meets-asias-needs-coronavirus-outbreak-can-it-succeed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3048667/co-living-meets-asias-needs-coronavirus-outbreak-can-it-succeed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Feb 2020 03:00:06 +0000 Kr Space is shutting down its last co-working facility in Hong Kong, ending its ill-fated expansion in the city. The Chinese company, a spin-off of technology platform 36kr.com, confirmed that it had decided to close its 34,000 square feet flexible office centre spread over two floors in Times Square, in the protest-hit district of Causeway Bay, just over a half a year after opening in April. “Despite our efforts, Causeway Bay centre’s business did not meet our targets of freeing up cash flow... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3039934/chinese-co-working-operator-kr-space-gives-times-square-facility?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3039934/chinese-co-working-operator-kr-space-gives-times-square-facility?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:03:38 +0000 WeWork is slashing almost 20 per cent of its workforce in a restructuring of its money-losing operation after a doomed global stock offering. WeWork said it has laid off 2,400 of its approximately 12,500 employees to “create a more efficient organisation,” the company said in a statement Thursday. The cuts began weeks ago in regions around the world and continued this week in the US, it added, without giving more details. In an email to employees earlier this week, executive chairman Marcelo... https://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/3038860/wework-cut-one-fifth-headcount-restructuring-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/money/markets-investing/article/3038860/wework-cut-one-fifth-headcount-restructuring-after?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Nov 2019 03:31:46 +0000 The technology-driven sharing economy has been good for Asia, creating jobs, boosting economies and making better use of capacity. But all is not rosy, as the bicycle-strewn streets of mainland China’s cities, disrupted industries and disadvantaged workers can attest. The financial troubles of the co-working company WeWork highlights another facet: poor management. Where investors put their money is their business, but governments also have to be mindful of impacts and be prepared for balanced... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038121/regulate-sharing-economy-dont-stifle-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038121/regulate-sharing-economy-dont-stifle-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Nov 2019 13:30:07 +0000 The ripple effects from the near collapse of WeWork, the loss-making shared office provider which had to shelve its initial public offering in September and was subsequently bailed out and taken over by Japanese technology group SoftBank, continue to spread across global property markets. Last week, Bloomberg reported that WeWork was reviewing its expansion plans in London as its new management prioritises profit over growth. Even a minor retrenchment in Central London – where the co-working... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3037157/why-weworks-collapse-could-be-blessing-disguise-chinas-co-working?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3037157/why-weworks-collapse-could-be-blessing-disguise-chinas-co-working?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2019 22:00:14 +0000 WeWork, the cash-strapped co-working company whose IPO failed, is weighing giving up office floors in at least half a dozen locations in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most expensive property markets. New York-based WeWork is considering surrendering a portion of a recently signed lease in Wan Chai, near Hong Kong’s central business district, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm leased four floors, or around 60,000 square feet, for nine years in the Hopewell Centre in August,... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3036561/wework-said-consider-giving-some-office-floors-half-dozen-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3036561/wework-said-consider-giving-some-office-floors-half-dozen-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2019 07:45:01 +0000 A quick glance at WeWork’s Hong Kong website gives a glimpse into the co-working company’s operations in the city. The start-up operates eight hubs in key business districts, plans to open four more by the year-end and has recently signed leases for another three. WeWork’s runaway expansion in Hong Kong seems a world apart from the troubles that have gripped its US parent. Until Wednesday there was every chance that one of the world’s most valuable unicorns would have spectacularly unravelled... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3034608/will-weworks-woes-prick-bubble-among-hong-kongs-overbuilt-co?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3034608/will-weworks-woes-prick-bubble-among-hong-kongs-overbuilt-co?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Oct 2019 04:15:12 +0000 Israeli-born Adam Neumann, 40, has come a long way from the shoe-box-sized New York city flat he first lived in in the early 2000s. – But his co-working company – valued just a few months ago at US$47 billion – has been rocked by criticism and controversy since it filed its IPO paperwork in mid-August and revealed spiralling losses. Since the paperwork was released, WeWork has suffered from a lack of investor interest, and has since announced it is shelving its plans to go public. In the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3034419/how-adam-neumann-co-founded-wework-and-why-he-had-step?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3034419/how-adam-neumann-co-founded-wework-and-why-he-had-step?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2019 09:46:57 +0000 WeWork has secured a US$9.5 billion rescue package from SoftBank Group, a deal that hands 80 per cent of the company to the Japanese conglomerate while capping one of the more dramatic business debacles in recent memory. The transaction announced in Tokyo on Wednesday marks the end of an era for the troubled co-working giant, which raised money at a US$47 billion valuation in January, pulled out of a botched initial public offering attempt last month and is now valued at less than US$8 billion... https://www.scmp.com/business/investor-relations/article/3034220/wework-gets-reprieve-softbank-injects-us95-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/investor-relations/article/3034220/wework-gets-reprieve-softbank-injects-us95-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2019 08:38:08 +0000