WeWork files for bankruptcy: reports

WeWork, offering co-working spaces both in the physical and virtual domain, was once seen as a revolutionary take on the traditional office.

Yet a doomed attempt at selling off shares in 2019 and a global pandemic that seriously undermined its whole business model due to the explosion of working from home, have left the company frought with difficulty.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, said that WeWork will file for bankruptcy in New Jersey.

The company itself has declined to comment on the reports. It told the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that it had agreed to postpone payments for some of its debt.

The news of WeWork's reported bankruptcy filing caused company shares to plummet by more than 40% in New York on Tuesday.

It was valued at around $47 billion (€45 billion) at its height in 2019 but has lost roughly 98% of its stock market valuation over the past year.

WeWork has faced constant struggles since its initial attempt to go public in 2019 was abandoned due to concerns about its debt, financial losses, and management.

Shortly after, the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering a shift to remote work which saw executives sell of businesses, reduce the workforce and cancel leases to rein in losses and prevent financial insolvency.

WeWork had 777 locations in 39 countries around the world as of June, according to the company.