Price Tag: Wework and Public-Market Value

price tag: Now his biggest backer, Japan's Soft Bank, is urging him to scrap an IPO that may peg The We Company's worth at less than 20 billion, according to the Financial Times, according to Global Times China. The problem is that WeWork may not last long without the proceeds of an IPO. Soft Bank and its affiliated Vision Fund have pumped almost 11 billion into Neumann's company. Mere months ago the WeWork co-founder's bankers touted a 65-billion public-market value for the office sublessor's parent, according to news reports. It has probably marked up those holdings, having invested most recently at a 47-billion price tag. For WeWork, however, a non-listing could be disastrous. Writing the shares down by more than half after a cut-price IPO - and perhaps also being heavily diluted by newly issued shares - would be embarrassing for Chief Executive Masayoshi Son while he is raising Vision Fund 2. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.