Softbank is coming to the financial rescue for WeWork. The two companies announced a deal late Tuesday night that will give the Japanese technology conglomerate an 80 percent ownership stake in WeWork, the former Wall Street darling that now finds itself embroiled in bedlam.
Under the agreement, Softbank will inject WeWork — officially called The We Company — with $5 billion of new financing and accelerate its existing commitment to provide $1.5 billion next year. The funding will provide WeWork with "significant liquidity to execute its business plan" and fuel the company's path to profitability, a joint statement read. The deal also included at $3 billion tender offer to existing shareholders.
Adam Neumann, WeWork's embattled founder and former CEO, will also step down from the company's board and give up his shares. The deal did not disclose the financial details of Neumann's removal, but earlier reports put the buy out at up to $1.7 billion. Neumann will stay active as a board observer.
"It is not unusual for the world's leading technology disruptors to experience growth challenges as the one WeWork just faced," said Masayoshi Son, Softbank's chairman and CEO. "Since the vision remains unchanged, SoftBank has decided to double down on the company by providing a significant capital infusion and operational support."
WeWork, which operates 528 co-working spaces in 29 countries, first came under pressure in August after the company attempted to go public. The initial public offering was quickly postponed after investors began scrutinizing the company's debt, financial decisions, and questionable governance practices.
George Schultze, a hedge fund manager and the founder of Schultze Asset Management, told Cheddar Tuesday that WeWork has no path forward "unless Softbank keeps throwing more money into the oven for burning."
Softbank's shares were down 2.5 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at close on Wednesday local time.
Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham, the current co-CEOs of WeWork, said that Softbank's funding will give the company a "platform for growth and capital returns" for investors and employees. "We will have the flexibility to continue streamlining our assets and stabilizing the business without sacrificing our global brand and exceptional products," the co-CEOs said in a statement.
Softbank also announced that Marcelo Claure, the firm's current chief operating officer, will be appointed to the position of executive chairman of the board of directors of WeWork.
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum “will not go unanswered,” European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed on Tuesday, adding that they will trigger toug
