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

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11–20 of 274 posts

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

#11
post #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.

Losing money doesn't destroy wealth. It just transfers it from one place to another.

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

#12
post #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.

> 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.

Why? Assets don't usually just vanish; they merely change hands. The spaces will physically be there. If an individual space is viable and has existing customers then the creditors will sell it to someone who will likely continue to run it. If it is not viable then it will go, but then it's hard to argue it had value.

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

#13
post #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.

WeWork did not seem all that of an exemplary place to work

tabloid-y source: https://nypost.com/2021/07/17/the-shocking-ways-weworks-ex-c...

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

#14

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.

Good point, those companies are also going to collapse.

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

#15

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.

They still aren't in a high rate environment

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

#17
post #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.

No the offices will be bought by someone else. The coworking lease will be cheaper. Most of the jobs will be preserved. Everyone will be happy except WeWork investors.

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

#18
post #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.

It’ll be replaced with other short-term, small commitment office space leasing providers. Some will surely be less efficient, meaning more people are employed in total.

Coworking will continue even as the providers of it come and go.

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

#19

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.

I think those are different, because they are frequent small transactions where having a smooth flow is essential. Renting an office is a longer term relationship so a marginal improvement in transaction cost doesn't really move the needle in the same way.

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

#20
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Losing money doesn't destroy wealth. It just transfers it from one place to another.

Not really. For example there’s a pretty noticeable difference in the amount of wealth a society will have if they choose to build 890,721 intricate snowmen on the island of Manhattan instead of housing, power plants, and infrastructure.
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