Four years after having the highest startup valuation in the country at $47 billion, WeWork filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The business model was vulnerable to softening of the office market. WeWork signed 10-20 year leases, most during the office market peak in 2018 and 2019, while allowing tenants to sign month-to-month leases. As of June 2023, WeWork was paying over $2.7 billion a year in rent and interest – more than 80% of its entire revenue, while was still burning $300 million of cash a quarter. Its total losses since founding in 2010 topped $16 billion, which included reckless spending such as buying a $63 million jet and investing in an artificial wave company.
