Nov 13, 2018

WeWork raises $3 billion from SoftBank

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann. Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images.

WeWork this morning told bond investors that it has raised $3 billion in new funding from SoftBank, at the same terms as a $1 billion convertible preferred financing infusion from August (i.e., minimum conversion value of $42 billion).

Bottom line: This is from SoftBank corporate, not from SoftBank Vision Fund (which remains an existing investor). No word on earlier reports that Vision Fund is negotiating for a majority stake in WeWork, although we subsequently heard that WeWork had taken control off the table.

  • WeWork ended September with around $6.4 billion of pro forma cash ($5b at parent).
  • Q3 revenue was $482 million (vs. $241m from year-earlier), community-adjusted EBITDA was $121 million ($65m), and net loss was $497 million (some of which gets attributed to Asia partners).
  • Expectations are that WeWork will open more desks in Q4 than it did in all of 2017, and also more than in Q2 and Q3 combined.

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 49 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

  1. Politics: Senate Democrats block vote on McConnell's targeted COVID relief bill — McConnell urges White House not to strike stimulus deal before election.
  2. Economy: Why the stimulus delay isn't a crisis (yet).
  3. Health: Studies show drop in COVID death rate — The next wave is gaining steam — The overwhelming aftershocks of the pandemic.
  4. Education: Schools haven't become hotspots — San Francisco public schools likely won't reopen before the end of the year.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Zachary Basu
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Senate Democrats block vote on McConnell's targeted COVID relief bill

Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a vote on Republicans' $500 billion targeted COVID-19 relief bill, a far less comprehensive package than the $1.8 trillion+ deal currently being negotiated between the Trump administration and House Democrats.

Why it matters: There's little appetite in the Senate for a stimulus bill with a price tag as large as what President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have been calling for. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) "skinny" proposal was mostly seen as a political maneuver, as it had little chance of making it out of the Senate.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Zach Dorfman of the Aspen Institute, author of Codebook
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

The hazy line between politics and influence campaigns

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The recent firestorm over the New York Post’s publication of stories relying on data from a hard drive allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden shows the increasingly hazy line between domestic political “dirty tricks” and a foreign-sponsored disinformation operation.

Why it matters: This haziness could give determined actors cover to conduct influence operations aimed at undermining U.S. democracy through channels that just look like old-fashioned hard-nosed politics.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow