WHY WEWORK DIED: LESSONS FROM THE PLIGHT OF A $47B LANDLORD

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Despite positioning itself as the office space equivalent of Uber, the “taxi company that owns no cars,” WeWork was operating under a different – and unsustainable – business model. As it grew rapidly, it wracked up liabilities in the form of 15-year leases that were funded by fluctuating short-term tenancy. This was largely hidden until they filed to go public, after which their newly exposed financial statements drew widespread criticism. WeWork also suffered from overdiversification and a subsequent loss of focus on the core business.