JPMorgan are the landlords. They just finished building one of the biggest skyscrapers in NYC for their use https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/270_Park_Avenue_(2021%E2%80%...

Someone needs to at least be able to portray a return on that investment.

I think most corporate America works this way. Every company has a board of directors (i.e stake holders (i.e investors, with many investments, including land)) they pass down edicts from on high. "If you want my money you have to do XYZ." From there c-suite executives figure out how to pull it off. Sometimes investments in one area affect decisions in another, which is technically a conflict of interest, which is technically illegal, but hey that's why America is famous for its corporate integrity.

Institutional investors in Big Tech also have investments in commercial real estate?

In this particular case we are talking about a large company that owns a lot of commercial real estate and invests heavily in it. From their point of view, allowing people WFH is acting against the best interests of the company - if these commercial buildings are sitting empty, their value goes down.

I see their point but as an employee I would never work for them unless completely broke and desperate - and even then only temporarily, just to have time to find a better job that allows WFH.