Progress Report: WeWork 90 Days After Announcing A 90-Day Turnaround Plan

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son claimed turning WeWork around would be simple, but the two months since his company took control have proven to be just the start of a long process.

Jan. 9 marked 90 days since WeWork gave a presentation to investors laying out a 90-day plan to pull the company out of the spiral that began with its disastrous IPO filing. The PowerPoint was shown Oct. 11, when the company was in negotiations for a bailout loan from JPMorgan Chase, Pitchbook reported.

But when SoftBank took over majority ownership in early November, the 90-day time frame was quietly discarded, a WeWork spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow. 

"In November, WeWork's new executive leadership laid out the company's go-forward strategy, focused on delivering strategic and profitable growth and an exceptional experience for our members," the spokesperson said in a statement. "We continue to execute on this plan and serve our members as the world’s leading co-working and space-as-a-service platform."

In the two months since SoftBank's takeover, WeWork has enacted some tangible changes:

  • The layoff of 20% of the company's global workforce.

  • A dramatic slowdown on new leases.

  • The sale of search engine optimization firm Conductor back to its founders.

  • The shuttering of side projects started by co-founder Adam Neumann and/or his wife, Rebekah.