When culture becomes a liability: business conduct risk as an early indicator of governance failure 

# I. What happened 

Years before WeWork's USD 47 billion valuation collapsed into bankruptcy, external indicators were emerging about the company’s governance, leadership conduct, and treatment of employees – signals that pointed to a culture resistant to accountability.  

WeWork opened its first shared workspace in New York City in 2010, shortly after its founding. Within a decade, the company had grown to hundreds of locations in dozens of countries, an expansion fueled by aggressive long-term office leasing and unprecedented levels of venture capital funding.  

By 2019, WeWork was valued at USD 47 billion, but was burning through cash at an alarming rate. When the company filed to go public that year, its IPO prospectus laid bare the scale of its problems: losses of approximately USD 1.9 billion in 2018, a corporate structure that concentrated voting control in founder Adam Neumann, and a series of conflicts of interest stemming from Neumann personally profiting from his dealings with the company.  

Investor confidence collapsed, and the IPO was withdrawn. SoftBank stepped in with an emergency rescue package, Neumann was forced out, and WeWork's valuation plummeted to around USD 9 billion. The company eventually went public in 2021 via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger, but continued to post heavy losses before ultimately filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2023 and reemerging as a private entity in June 2024.