WeWork Founder Seeks To Buy Bankrupt Company 5 Years After Being Ousted

Five years after being ousted from the co-working giant WeWork, Adam Neumann is trying to buy back the bankrupt company, as per a report in the New York Times. The 44-year-old's new real estate company, Flow Global, is trying to negotiate a deal to buy WeWork or its assets or provide it with debt financing. The company's lawyers sent a letter to WeWork advisors on February 5 stating that he has been trying to meet with them for several months. 

Hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb, whose Third Point investment firm is renowned for taking over troubled businesses, is supporting Mr Neumann in his attempts to get WeWork back.

However, WeWork advisors are hesitant to negotiate with the former CEO. Mr Neumann's lawyers said that WeWork had a "lack of engagement" with him and had not provided him with the necessary information to make a bid to buy the company or finance its debt. The corporation is more than $4 billion in debt, according to the outlet. 

"We write to express our dismay with WeWork's lack of engagement even to provide information to my clients in what is intended to be a value-maximizing transaction for all stakeholders," the legal team said.

According to the outlet, the letter stated that WeWork had previously turned down Mr Neumann's proposals. It is to be noted when Mr Neumann attempted to "arrange up to $1 billion in financing to stabilize WeWork in October 2022," the company's then-CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, "shut down that process without explanation," while "participants were literally in the air travelling."

"In a hybrid work world where demand for WeWork's product should be greater than ever, my clients believe that the synergies and management expertise offered by an acquisition could significantly exceed the value of the debtors on a stand-alone basis. WeWork should at least educate itself about that potential and not preclude itself from maximizing value," the lawyers said in the letter.

Meanwhile, WeWork told the Guardian that it got "expressions of interest from external parties on a regular basis" and evaluated it "with a view to acting in the best interests of the company". "We continue to believe that the work we are currently doing - undressing our unsustainable rent expenses and restructuring our business - will ensure WeWork is best positioned as an independent, valuable, financially strong and sustainable company long into the future," the statement said.

Adam Neumann founded the company in 2010 and by 2019, it was worth $47 billion. WeWork's operations have been declining since the company's failure with its initial public offering in 2019. After investing billions of dollars to try to save the company, SoftBank, the company's principal owner, eventually took it public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2021. The failed deal led to founder Adam Neumann's resignation as chief executive officer and led to a dramatic slide in WeWork's valuation, which once stood as high as $47 billion.