Workplace

Apple departure points to wider mystery

6 February 2019

Retail chief Angela Ahrendts was one of the firm’s best-paid executives. Was she worth it? It’s impossible to know, because Apple doesn’t say how its stores are doing. It’s one of several important data points the company holds back. Opacity weighs on Apple’s valuation.

Slack is the tech everybody likes but no one needs

17 January 2019

That’s one problem for the messaging service as it gets ready to go public. It’s popular, but not a must-have for companies. Another issue is its current $7 bln private-market valuation. Based on other high-flying software firms, it’s only worth just over half that amount.

WeWork needs path to profit, not enlightenment

8 January 2019

The cash-burning office-share outfit – now “The We Company” – wants to “elevate the world’s consciousness.” SoftBank is investing $2 bln more, some at a notional $47 bln valuation. But that’s far less than mooted. Broadening its ambitions as backers shrink theirs is risky.

SoftBank-WeWork mess exposes cracks in Vision Fund

8 January 2019

Masa Son’s main partners have balked at pouring more cash into the office-space provider, according to the FT. That undermines the idea of him as a visionary tech investor. It also makes it harder for the $97 bln vehicle to negotiate future deals – or set up a second fund.

SoftBank and WeWork co-create rocketing valuation

14 June 2018

The giant Vision Fund may inject more cash into the loss-making shared-office provider at nearly double its previous $20 bln worth. WeWork is growing fast, but that was already priced in. One test is whether SoftBank puts a lot of money where its mouth is, or only a little.

Hadas: WeWork blather is call to rework accounting

16 May 2018

The office-rental outfit’s “community-adjusted EBITDA” is ridiculous, but it gets at a real problem: valuing fast-growing firms. Standard measures would benefit investors more than company-defined ones. Accountants can help – once they learn to deal with the post-factory economy.

IWG suitors could use some WeWork magic

14 May 2018

The original shared-office provider has been approached by three private equity bidders. Though the shares are up 30 pct, its $3.8 bln market value is just over its 2017 revenue. Trendy upstart WeWork is valued at 20 times. Buyers will be hoping some of the sparkle will rub off.

WeWork junk-bond investors enable a contradiction

26 April 2018

The trendy shared-office outfit is the latest firm with heady prospects and huge cash burn to tap credit markets. Like Uber, Tesla and Netflix, WeWork needs funds for expansion to justify its valuation. Yet the healthy cash flow creditors prefer may only come with slower growth.

Tech salad will come with a side of SLAW in 2018

3 January 2018

Spotify, Lyft, Airbnb and WeWork are all potentially going public in the coming year. None of them may ever match the scale of a FAANG or BAT. But each is disruptive in its own way, and offers investors a unique play on the future of cities, mobility, work and play. Bon appetit!

WeWork labors to keep itself looking different

28 November 2017

The shared-office provider’s latest purchase is Meetup. The social network’s get-togethers might fill WeWork’s space at slow times. But like investing in a wave-pool firm, starting a school and opening a gym, the consistent theme is desperation to not be a real-estate firm.

WeWork stretches sharing-economy valuations

26 June 2015

The groovy provider of office space - and beer - to millennial workers is now worth $10 bln after its latest funding round, doubling in just six months. WeWork is growing fast, but based on established rivals’ metrics earnings would need to jump 15-fold to justify that price tag.

Review: The shirk ethic – a user’s guide

28 November 2014

Work can be seen as a blessing or a curse. In “Empty Labor,” Roland Paulsen examines people who take mostly the latter view, asking how and why they shirk, and whether it’s always a bad thing. His study of idleness on the job is enlightening, amusing and sad.