Academic presentation for WeWork as a case study for corporate governance and ethics class at IIM Bangalore MBA

1. group04
wework
corporategovernance&ethics
06th july 2022
image source: P. L. on Unsplash
group 04
Vaibhav Gupta (2214021)
Pankaj Jindal (2214023)
Avik Munshi (2214042)
Sivapriva CS (2214068)
Venkata Anish (2214071)

2. group04
wework
“our mission is to elevate world’s
“consciousness.”
AdamNeumann
FounderCEO&Chairman
WeWork
image source: bloomberg

3. 528
office
locations
111
cities
worldwide
527,000
subscribers
globally
image source: Kamal Kant Kosariya on Unsplash

4. group04
wework
the
timeline
2010 Oct 2011 Jul 2012 May 2013 Feb 2014 Dec 2014 Jul 2015 Jan 2016 Oct 2016
WeWork
opened its 1st
office in NYC
DAG
Ventures
invested $1
million
First VC
Investment
MassMutual,
Benchmark,
Fidelity
invested $17
million
Series A
Undisclosed
$40 million
Series B
JPMorgan,
Harvard,
Benchmark
invested $150
million
Series C
T Rowe,
Wellington,
Goldman
Sachs
invested $355
million
Series D
Fidelity
invested $434
million
Series E
Masayoshi
Son & Adam
Neumann
shared the
stage at
Startup India
Event
Legend
Holdings,
JANVEST
Capital, Hony
Capital
invested $690
million
Series F
Aug 2017 2018 Jan 2019 Aug 2019 Sep 2019 Sep 2019 Oct 2019 Oct 2021 July 2022
Softbank
invested $4.4
billion (Vision
Fund)
WeWork
became New
York’s largest
private
landlord
Softbank
invested
another $2
billion @
valuation $47
billion
WeWork filed
its S-1
document
(IPO
prospectus)
IPO halted &
WeWork cut
its valuation
to $10 billion
The Board
removed its
CEO Adam
Neumann
Softbank
takes control
& bailed out
the co. with
$5 billion
financing
WeWork gets
listed on
NYSE @ $9.5
billion
valuation
Stock trading
at $5.00
against
$11.78 on its
debut

5. group04
wework
source: Redd on Unsplash
pros cons
raisecapitalbeyond
venturecapital
disclosureofsensitive
information
thehurdlestogoingpublic…
reducedebt-income
rationwithequityfunds
provideemployeestock
options
publicity&elevationof
brandperception
potentialofvaluationhit
fromreducedriskappetite
stricter tocompliance&
governancenorms
strategicchallengesand
lossoffocus

6. group04
wework
source: NASA on Unsplash
growth&
expansion
bringtechin
officespace
funding
driven
cashupontail
windsofVCs
overambitious
targets
lurethe
investors
strategyovertheyears..

7. group04
wework
“our mission is to elevate world’s
“consciousness.”
AdamNeumann
FounderCEO&Chairman
WeWork
image source: bloomberg

8. group04
wework
source: Güner Deliağa Şahiner on Unsplash
“hear no evil, see no evil, speak no
“evil.”
BuddhistProverb
Originsunknown
“defeatedallpurposesoftheboard
“ineverypossiblemanner
“whilstdecisionsweremade
“unanimously.”

9. group04
wework
source: 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash
p–p,
p–a,
problems
superseding
personal
interests
breachof
duecare
&loyalty
unwarranted
restructuring
forceocontrol
relatedparty
transactions
tocashgains
failureto
disclose
correctly
witheverytrickinthebook…

10. group04
wework
image source: Harvard
“I have stayed silent too long.”
MarkSchwartz
BoardMember
WeWork

11. group04
wework
source: Güner Deliağa Şahiner on Unsplash
source: Gareth Harrison on Unsplash
“IPObroughtthetipping point,asallred
“flagsbecameflashinglights!”
checksbeforetheIPO…
clean&
control
concrete
roadmap
investor
confidence
investor
network
timelinefor
profitability
opportunistic
IPOtiming

12. group04
wework
“actions speak louder than words.”
AncientProverb
…

13. $2.35
billions
revenue
3,275
office
locations
$185
millions
op.profit
image source: Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash
$1.82
billions
revenue
425
office
locations
$1,691
millions
op.loss
source: Regus Annual Report
wework
Regus

14. group04
wework
image source: fortune
“I overestimated Neumann’s good
“side, turned a blind eye to things like
“corporate governance.”
MasayoshiSon
Founder&Director
SoftBank

15. group04
wework
source: 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash
wasitdeceptionordelusion…
valuation
bubble&
delusion
free-handto
theceofrom
Mr.Son no?
godsyndrome
&invincible
attitude
optimism&
confirmation
biases
suppress
&eliminate
disagreements

16. group04
wework
group 04
Vaibhav Gupta (2214021)
Pankaj Jindal (2214023)
Avik Munshi (2214042)
Sivapriva CS (2214068)
Venkat Anish (2214071)
thank
you
image source: Brandon Hooper on Unsplash