The WeWork board agreed to a multibillion-dollar bailout and investment package from SoftBank on Tuesday, handing control of the cash-strapped company to the Japanese technology group and releasing it from the grip of its co-founder Adam Neumann, according to people briefed on the matter.
SoftBank, which was already WeWork’s largest backer, is to pump $6.5bn into the shared office company through new loans and equity, and will provide Mr Neumann a nearly $1.7bn package to step down from the board, the people said.
The SoftBank proposal accepted by the board would set WeWork’s equity valuation at just $8bn, a fraction of the $47bn price tag the property group was assigned in the Japanese company’s last investment round.