If WeWork goes bankrupt, the investors will get wiped out but some other company will buy the buildings and it'll continue existing
Leasing to WeWork is a ‘gig economy’ side-hustle for a big office building owner to monetize more of their space, same as driving for Uber works as a side hustle for humans who want to monetize more of their time, or Airbnb lets homeowners side hustle to monetize their spare room.
Question is if without WeWork those buildings would continue to offer those services directly, sign on with a competitor platform, or do something else.
Maybe now WeWork has shown the opportunity, building owners would be prepared to leverage the platform to access the short term tenant base without requiring that WeWork lease the space first.
After all, you don’t have Uber pay to lease your vehicle or AirBnb sign a lease on your spare room before you join up to their platforms.
All of which suggests that WeWork actually has a pretty strong case for renegotiating their leases - they have their subletting revenue they can split with the property owner as leverage.
The great thing was that shared office space was new to most people, so when clients would visit they'd be impressed with the fancy building, the marble reception, and the huge conference room, and not know we were a 2-person shop renting a 6'x8' office.