I originally posted this thread on Twitter but decided to alter it slightly for the blog. Also, I wanted to keep it in the archives in case Twitter ever gets shut down or bans me. It is a work of art that must be preserved.
Without further ado, I present WeOffice: The Rise and Fall of WeWork. Told through a series of GIFs from The Office.
Starring Michael Scott as Adam Neumann.
October 2011: $1M seed round, undisclosed valuation. <Enter Adam Neumann>
July 2012: $17M Series A, $97M valuation
May 2013: $40M Series B, $440M valuation
February 2014: $150M Series C, $1.49B valuation
October 2014: $355M Series D, $5B valuation
June 2015: $434M Series E, $10.23B valuation
April 2016: Debt financing, valuation unchanged
October 2016: $690 million Series F, $16.9B valuation
August 2017: Insider stock sales to SoftBank, valuation unchanged
August 2017: $1.7B Series G, $21.2B valuation
Summer 2018: WeWork will no longer serve meat at events or expense meals with it.
“New research indicates that avoiding meat is one of the biggest things an individual can do to reduce their personal environmental impact, even more than switching to a hybrid car.”
January 2019: WeWork uses artificial intelligence to learn that people drink coffee in the morning so they should hire a barista.
January 2019: $1B insider stock sales to SoftBank, $20B valuation
January 2019: $5B direct investment from SoftBank, $47B valuation
May 2019: $110M debt financing, valuation unchanged.
“Am I a hero? I really can’t say. But, yes, I am.”
August 2019: WeWork files IPO paperwork
September 2019: Goldman values WeWork IPO in the $65B range
September 2019: It turns out we are not seeing investor demand after filing the S-1 document...
September 2019: WeWork seeks reduced, $10B to $12B valuation for IPO
September 2019: “Adam, I’m afraid we are going to have to pull the IPO”
September 2019: Panic mode: “We can just make it up in volume.”
Accounting department: “Actually, ran the numbers on this, and in this case, it makes more financial sense to gain money.”
September 2019: Adam, we would like to discuss something with you. I’m afraid the board has decided to terminate you immediately.
September 2019: *Adam walks away with $700M*
October 2019: WeWork is reportedly seeking a $4B lifeline from SoftBank and JPMorgan.
Future: SoftBank doesn’t provide another round of funding and the entire staff gets laid off.
Future: Laid off WeWork employees try to clean up their lives after getting a taste of being millionaires but are now forced to stand in the breadline. Thanks Adam.
End thread.
This is post #40. You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram or sign up for my free newsletter here. Also please check out my Amazon page for a full reading list.