WeWork revenues and losses soar as global expansion ramps up
New York’s WeWork revealed that revenues doubled last year to nearly $2bn – but losses also widened significantly.
Total revenues at the co-working giant rose to $1.82bn in 2018, compared to $886m a year earlier, as memberships hit 401,000, with occupancy rates of around 90%. At the end of the previous year, WeWork had 186,000 members paying for access to shared or flexible office space.
WeWork, which was set up in 2010, is now in 100 cities across 27 countries and is the largest officer occupier in London. The company reported that 43% of fourth-quarter revenues came from outside the US.
But the rapid expansion means losses have also continued to mount. Full-year losses came in at $1.93bn against 2017’s loss of $933m.
The company said it was not concerned, however, by the widening losses. President Artie Minson told The Times: “We could turn the business profitable any given Friday if we chose to. That would just require us to slow down the growth of the business. But frankly the opportunity is so significant that we are investing in order to reach the market share we think we can achieve.”
He also told The Times that the “balance sheet has never been stronger”.
WeWork, which was founded by entrepreneurs Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, is privately owned. Its biggest investor, Japan’s Softbank, ploughed further billions into the business in January, valuing it at around $40bn.