Where Were WeWork’s Bankers?

This week’s chapter in the drama of WeWork involved a widely-expected bail out plan from SoftBank that was, as many commentators have pointed out, quite remarkable.

It was SoftBank at its most head-scratching. With the company running out of cash, WeWork’s largest investor moved up a $1.5 billion investment, loaned the company another $5 billion and agreed to buy up to $3 billion of stock from investors, employees and executives, including former CEO Adam Neumann. Oh and SoftBank agreed to pay him a nearly $200 million consulting fee. Meanwhile, as Cory reported a few weeks ago, the company is preparing to lay off thousands of employees.