WeWork’s Imperiled $3 Billion Stock Sale Would Mostly Benefit 5 Investors
VC firm Benchmark would see the biggest windfall after Adam Neumann in the deal.
Members sit around a communal working table inside the WeWork Ocean Gate Minatomirai co-working office space in Yokohama.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergIn a deal that’s currently at risk of falling apart, a handful of investors would be the main beneficiaries of SoftBank Group Corp.’s plan to buy $3 billion of WeWork stock, according to a person familiar with the matter.
As part of the agreement, scheduled to be completed next week, $2.1 billion in proceeds from stock purchases is slated go to five investors, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Benchmark, the venture capital firm that backed WeWork from its earliest days, is seeking to sell up to $600 million worth of shares, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. That figure puts Benchmark behind only Adam Neumann, WeWork’s co-founder and former chief executive officer, who has the right to sell as much as $970 million in the deal.