WeWork Has Sent a Distress Signal. Here’s What to Know.

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WeWork, which promised to revolutionize the way people work alongside one another, announced in a financial filing on Tuesday that it had “substantial doubt” it would stay in business. That declaration raises questions about not only the company’s viability but also the future of commercial real estate. Here’s what you need to know about WeWork’s past and prospects. What is WeWork? WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, tech entrepreneurs who used the funds from the sale of their previous co-working start-up, Green Desk. WeWork’s vision was to create a “physical social network” that would appeal to a new class of workers who were freelancing or working from home. The business model was to sign long-term leases for office buildings (or individual floors), spruce up those spaces and rent them to freelancers and companies. The company would attract clients, the thinking went, by offering incentives like beer and hard kombucha as well as chic interior design — and would charge them enough to make a profit after WeWork made its lease payments.