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WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

businessinsider.com

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Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#2
It never had that much value, it just made it look like it did for long enough to get people to invest in it at vastly inflated prices.

"Renting offices to work in" was never going to be a silicon valley style success, because it just can't scale that way.

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#3
Was anything of value lost?

The idea, as I understand it, was co-working spaces. They were there to optimize that, extracting the maximum profit in the way they leased stuff. Ok, fine.

Is co-working still going on? Has something desirable been lost? Were they creating any value that couldn't be recreated by someone else.

I can't care one way or another about fake valuation of market cap. But I do care if work is getting done, and that people are trying to find new ways to do it.

So can someone tell me if there is a there there or if this is just very rich people complaining that they didn't get richer?

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#4

It never had that much value, it just made it look like it did for long enough to get people to invest in it at vastly inflated prices. "Renting offices to work in" was never going to be a silicon valley style success, because it just can't scale that way.

I mean if it used to be a very large pile of US currency then yes, it definitely had a lot of value that was apparently destroyed.

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#5
Yes its a huge value loss but isn't this part of the VC model - invest in some companies knowing most will probably whither away in one way or another but a few will hit it out the park? The article mentions Benchmark and Insight have done ok in their other investments.

Softbank though is a bit of an outlier - maybe it was a one-hit-wonder with Alibaba. They don't appear to have invested like other VCs at any rate.

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#6
post #3

Was anything of value lost? The idea, as I understand it, was co-working spaces. They were there to optimize that, extracting the maximum profit in the way they leased stuff. Ok, fine. Is co-working still going on? Has something desirable been lost? Were they creating any value that couldn't be recreated by someone else. I can't care one way or another about fake valuation of market cap. But I do care if work is gett…

If WeWork goes out of business and closes down, many people will lose their jobs and many people will lose the place where they work. That seems like something of value will be lost.

Yes, coworking is still going on for many sole proprietors, small teams, and remote workers. Remote work does not mean work from home.

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#7
post #5

Yes its a huge value loss but isn't this part of the VC model - invest in some companies knowing most will probably whither away in one way or another but a few will hit it out the park? The article mentions Benchmark and Insight have done ok in their other investments. Softbank though is a bit of an outlier - maybe it was a one-hit-wonder with Alibaba. They don't appear to have invested like other VCs at any rate.

VCs largely get out before these events. They are likely up tbh

Re: WeWork has frittered away $46.7B in value as the stock sinks below ¢50

#9

It never had that much value, it just made it look like it did for long enough to get people to invest in it at vastly inflated prices. "Renting offices to work in" was never going to be a silicon valley style success, because it just can't scale that way.

"Taxi services" was never going to be a silicon valley style success, because it just can't scale that way.

"Food delivery services" was never going to be a silicon valley style success, because it just can't scale that way.

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