After having invested multibillion dollars in companies as diverse as the graphics chip maker Nvidia, an artificial intelligence software maker and an indoor farming start-up, SoftBank has chosen WeWork, a fast growing co-working spaces startup.
This investment will accelerate WeWork’s ability to connect more people to WeWork’s global community, which currently stands at approximately 150,000 members, as well as further expand WeWork’s physical presence across the globe.
“Masayoshi Son is a visionary business leader and we are humbled by this strong endorsement of our mission and purpose,” said Adam Neumann, Co-Founder and CEO of WeWork. “This support from SoftBank and the Vision Fund will provide even more opportunities for creators as we set out to humanize the way people work and live.”
The investment estimates the 7 yo WeWork at around $17 billion, without the new investment, according to the people familiar with the deal, who were not entitled to speak publicly.
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More than half of the investment of $3 billion in WeWork will come from the Vision Fund, according to one of the people who are informed about the deal. A little more than half the money invested will be used to buy shares from existing investors, while the rest will go towards buying newly issued shares from the company.
“WeWork is leveraging the latest technologies and its own proprietary data systems to radically transform the way people work,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “Adam’s unique vision and talented team have created a sharing platform that offers maximum flexibility and opportunity to creators of all types, from young entrepreneurs to large multinational companies. We are thrilled to support WeWork as they expand across markets and geographies and unleash a new wave of productivity around the world.”
For WeWork, SoftBank in China, Japan and the Pacific region, which comprises South East Asia and South Korea, is investing another $ 1.4 billion in three Asia-focused subsidiaries. The companies are hoping to gain a foothold in these regions before the home competitions can take over, as Didi Chuxing has done at Uber in China.
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