WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer • Hacker News Board

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#61

Post by luckydata » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

filmgirlcw wrote: post #56

nostromo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps I'm just not seeing any real victims here. Softbank and the Saudis wanted to roll the dice on some overpriced unicorns. They went into the deal with eyes open. And it looks like they're taking a massive haircut. Play stupid games... I do feel sorry for some WeWork employees that will lose their jobs. But, again, many of them joined hoping to get some upside when the company went public -- which was a gamble t…

Dude, come on. They have 15,000 employees. Most of them are going to lose their jobs. Those are the victims. I agree I don’t weep for Soft Bank or the Saudis, but plenty of people took jobs not just on the promise of IPO riches. And laying off a company of WeWork and its subsidiaries size is more than just a handful of people entering the job market — a market that isn’t as good in every city, which is something to c…

not to mention all the people that will be affected when they inevitably default on their real estate obligations. Contractors, security, cleaning crew, small lenders... a lot of people will get hurt through no fault of their own. this kind of stuff has consequences.

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#62

Post by vkou » Tue, Oct 22, 2019, 11:50 PM UTC

neural_thing wrote: post #23

What I don't understand is why Softbank didn't just buy the bonds and take control of the company during a restructuring. Would've been much cheaper, no need to pay Neumann anything.

That would have given Neumann a few more months to run it into the ground.

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#63

Post by nostromo » Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 12:03 AM UTC

JamesBarney wrote: post #52

nostromo wrote: post #14

I'm confused as to why this is so terrible. He created a very valuable company, worth billions of dollars. It makes sense that he should capture some large fraction of that wealth. Yes, some people will lose their jobs. But it's worth noting that those jobs wouldn't have existed in the first place if he hadn't started the company. His mismanagement has cost him and Softbank billions, which is appropriate as well. I s…

He created an 8 billion dollar company from 12 billion dollars. A feat many are capable of.

So go do it if it's so easy.

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#64

Post by nickpinkston » Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 12:34 AM UTC

xkjkls wrote: post #37

misiti3780 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not defending Adam N, but Jeffrey Skilling committed out right fraud, as far as i know, no one has accused that of happening at We Work

It depends on how you define "fraud". It was definitely run with a lax definition of truth.

Seemingly there's a lot of pump-n-dump types of situations going on that in this case SoftBank was complicit with Adam with.

This is not an isolated case, and I'm glad Wall St. called bullshit on WeWork, but likely only because even they couldn't place those bullshit IPO shares - not enough greater fool liquidity out there apparently... Sounds like a case for optimism :D

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#65

Post by jjakque » Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 1:20 AM UTC

basch wrote: post #60

tibbydudeza wrote: post #9

Softbank ... now offically the Pets.com of 2019.

Softbank was the Pets.com of 2000. Their market cap dropped from $200B to $2B. Masayoshi Son was "worth more" than Bill Gates for 3 days. It's their playbook. Although they left the dotcom crash losing 99% of their value, they walked out with a stake in Alibaba now worth over $100B.

Planet money has a podcast episode on WeWork and Masayoshi: https://www.npr.org/2019/10/04/767379358/episode-943-unicorn...

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#66

Post by nighthawk648 » Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #15

nighthawk648 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s more insane is the hundred mill he got after being forced out... such a shame

I know it's basically "go away quietly" money, but the idea of wanting him consulting on anything is kinda hilarious.

Damn what do I do to get go away money instead of jail time?

Re: WeWork Accepts SoftBank Takeover Offer

#67

Post by JamesBarney » Thu, Oct 24, 2019, 8:23 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #63

JamesBarney wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He created an 8 billion dollar company from 12 billion dollars. A feat many are capable of.

So go do it if it's so easy.

The hard part is convincing someone to give you 12 billion dollars to set on fire. That part is extremely difficult and a skill which Neumann had in spades and which unfortunately I lack.