NEW YORK — WeWork, the largest private office tenant in New York City, is changing its name to The We Company.
The We Company encompasses three different business lines: WeWork, WeLive, and WeGrow.
WeWork develops flexible office space in major cities; WeLive offers furnished, flexible apartments; and WeGrow offers education for students.
The new We Company also announced it has received a $6 billion investment from Japanese giant SoftBank. $5 billion is in the form of primary growth capital and the remaining $1 billion in secondary capital which will be used to fund share purchases from investors and employees. WeWork’s post-money valuation is now $47 billion.
This investment includes a previously announced $4 billion funding commitment from SoftBank in the form of a $1 billion convertible note and a $3 billion warrant. WeWork and its subsidiaries have now raised more than $10 billion in total commitments from SoftBank since 2017.
There were reports that Softbank was looking to make a larger investment but investors were hesitant since the We Company has yet to turn a profit.
“WeWork is disrupting a multi-trillion-dollar industry with a technology platform that provides a complete solution for space needs. WeWork has already experienced unparalleled growth and we are confident that with Adam’s vision and this growth capital the company will be able to aggressively pursue the enormous market opportunity ahead of them,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp.
“Through the extended WeWork network and the Meetup community, The We Company now touches approximately 5 million people around the world, with the funding to reach millions more. We’re driven by the impact we know we can have when we all work together with a shared intention. I am grateful to our employees, members, and our incredible partner in SoftBank for their commitment to our mission,” said Adam Neumann, Co-Founder and CEO of The We Company.
WeWork began 2019 with more than 400,000 members at 425 locations in 100 cities across 27 countries. Enterprise customers (members with over 1,000 employees) accounted for over 30% of the company’s total membership base. As of September 2018, 30% of the Global Fortune 500 were with WeWork.
