What's so structurally fascinating, in a very morbid way, is the difference between the balance sheets of the most heavily-funded late stage companies.
I have an opinion but regardless of it, if a no-asset/no-liability company is losing money and the music stops, they can cut costs and survive. It's messy but it happens.
WeWork is a completely different beast. It's occupancy costs + G&A are 105% of revenue. If it can't sustain its losses with free flowing capital it can't cut long-term liabilities as easily as headcount and perks (again, this is morbid), so its only option would be bankruptcy.
So in this case it would seem that the most rational way to invest in it, if you absolutely had to, would be in its debt. I have to assume, though, given this ridiculous structure, that the opco would be shielded.
Man, we can't predict the future but it's pretty clear that if something does go wrong, it would be an AIG-level mess to unwind the complexities.
One of the founders pulled $700m out of the company, bought properties with that money, and now leases them back to the company. This could've been a solid company if it owned the properties directly.
I have an opinion but regardless of it, if a no-asset/no-liability company is losing money and the music stops, they can cut costs and survive. It's messy but it happens.
WeWork is a completely different beast. It's occupancy costs + G&A are 105% of revenue. If it can't sustain its losses with free flowing capital it can't cut long-term liabilities as easily as headcount and perks (again, this is morbid), so its only option would be bankruptcy.
So in this case it would seem that the most rational way to invest in it, if you absolutely had to, would be in its debt. I have to assume, though, given this ridiculous structure, that the opco would be shielded.
Man, we can't predict the future but it's pretty clear that if something does go wrong, it would be an AIG-level mess to unwind the complexities.