They were always a real estate company, they just didn't get to IPO under the SV hype because as it got closer people looked closer at the company and realized the valuation was ridiculous and the CEO was lining his own pockets acting as landlord to his own company. Now that that's happened and it's all come out he has to step down.
Why "SV" hype? WeWork was founded and HQd in New York.
See also: Hollywood. Nashville. Foggy Bottom. Quantico. Denim.
"SV" isn't just a place. It's a state of mind ;)
It's more about the type of hype than the literal place something is run from. WeWork was getting the same kind of 'change the world' and crazy valuations that tech companies get, the kind that assume the company will take over an entire industry.
the way you described it, it's like a cult lost its leader
Yeah somewhat. Though instead of it's leader it lost it's appeal and the cult leader had to go into hiding. WeWork is still a decent business idea just no where near the crazy valuations it was given.
Given how much money wework has lost this year, I think it remains to be seen if they’re a decent business.
I mean more the underlying model seems like it should work. There's tons of successful coworking spaces it seems and that's a lot of what WeWork did just with the option for company size teams.