The employees pretty much got the typical outcome of working at a startup (startup runs along for a couple years, then fails). The fact that Adam Neumann made bank is rankling, but Rich People Burning Money and Also Accidentally Giving Some Away to Undeserving People Because They Did Incredibly Stupid Things isn't exactly something we can or should stop. You can't make it illegal to be stupid.
WeWork deflated more than any company in HISTORY. You’re technically correct but people are irrational and I’m sure they were being lied to their face in all hands about how great the future would be.
At that stage as an employee you’re counting on those to be able to put down a down payment or do a much needed renovation, or hopefully not payback debt.
Cisco went from 77$ per share in 2000 to $10 per share in 2002, while being public (so the value was much more real than WeWork, you could hit the 'sell' button to make it real money in 5 minutes, unlike WeWork equity).
IIRC it was valued around 500 billions in 2000, so it was much larger destruction in value. It still hasn't recovered, with $45 per share right now, never reaching its 2000 peak during these 19 years.