WeWork files for bankruptcy years after office-sharing company was valued at $47 billion

Office-sharing company WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey federal court Monday, just years after being valued at $47 billion.

The bankruptcy filing is limited to the company's locations in the U.S. and Canada and is part of what WeWork is calling a "comprehensive reorganization" of the business to "best position the company for future success."

“Now is the time for us to pull the future forward by aggressively addressing our legacy leases and dramatically improving our balance sheet,” said WeWork CEO David Tolley in a news release.

The company said it has the support of its key financial stakeholders and has entered into a restructuring support agreement, with holders representing about 92% of its secured notes to "drastically reduce the company's existing funded debt and expedite the restructuring process."

Part of this restructuring plan includes the company reducing its number of office leases.

"As part of today's filing, WeWork is requesting the ability to reject the leases of certain locations, which are largely non-operational and all affected members have received advanced notice," the company said in the statement.

What is WeWork?

WeWork, founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann, provides office spaces that are available to lease.

The story of the company and the ex-CEO was made infamous last year when Apple TV released a series about Neumann's marriage and WeWork called "WeCrashed."

Review:Jared Leto gets to go as wild as he wants in WeWork drama 'WeCrashed'

The company attempted to go public in 2019, when it was worth nearly $50 billion, but nearly went bankrupt just six weeks later. Neumann stepped down as CEO shortly thereafter.

Sandeep Mathrani took over as CEO in February 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic added to the company's troubles. WeWork went public in October 2021 through a merger.

WeWork stock

WeWork's stock price (WE) fell below a dollar, closing Friday at 84 cents before being halted in Monday trading.