The WeWork IPO fiasco of 2019, explained in 30 seconds

• WeWork has been in turmoil since it filed its public-offering paperwork in August.
• In one month, the coworking company cut its valuation down to as low as $10 billion from $47 billion, removed Adam Neumann as CEO, and delayed its initial public offering indefinitely.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

What just happened to WeWork?

Attempting to go public this fall stirred up a lot of drama — in finances and leadership — for the nine-year-old coworking company.

Here's a 30-second explanation of what's going on:

WeWork publicly filed its IPO paperwork on August 14. "The We Company" was described as an umbrella with three major arms: WeWork, WeLive, and WeGrow.

After the filing, WeWork faced intense scrutiny of its finances and leadership from investors and the media. There were concerns about WeWork's path to profitability and its leader, CEO and cofounder Adam Neumann. As a result, investor interest was weak, and the company considered cutting its valuation by more than 50%. Ultimately, WeWork delayed its IPO on September 17.

After the delay, attention shifted to Neumann's inappropriate antics, like reports of his smoking weed on a private jet, serving employees tequila shots after discussing layoffs, and trademarking the term "We" and then forcing WeWork to buy it for $5.9 million. Neumann stepped down from his role as CEO on September 24. Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham have stepped into the role of co-CEOs of WeWork as it attempts to navigate its future.

Now, here's a 5-minute timeline of events, via our past coverage.

October 14

WeWork says thousands of its phone booths could have dangerous levels of formaldehyde after people complained about odor and eye irritation

SCOOP: Leaked emails reveal WeWork was warned about potentially dangerous phone booths tainted with formaldehyde as early as August

16 wild details that reveal the lavish life of WeWork founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann

The commercial real estate tech industry is gathering at a huge WeWork-anchored building in New York. Here's what everyone will be talking about.

JPMorgan has a complex relationship with WeWork. Here's a sneak peak at what Wall Street analysts will be asking when it reports earnings.

October 13

SoftBank could reportedly take control of WeWork at a valuation below $10 billion as the embattled office rental company seeks bailout options

The commercial real estate tech industry is gathering at a huge WeWork-anchored building in New York. Here's what everyone will be talking about.

October 12

The WeWork fiasco is making employees wonder if their shares have been set on fire. We talked to experts who said most tech startup workers are in the dark about how much their equity is worth.

October 11

WeWork is now is said to be talking to JPMorgan about a $5 billion credit line and could run out of cash next month without it

WeWork's school is closing at the end of the academic year as the company ditches passion projects to stem its huge losses

Inside WeWork's troubled $850 million Lord & Taylor building: A tale of outsize ambition, audacious renovations, and now financial worries

WeWork is reportedly rushing to get a new debt-financing deal and could run out of cash next month

Cash-strapped WeWork pulled more than $60 million from its UK unit and almost tripled the division's debt last year

October 10

WeWork's India business is trying to raise $200 million after prior funding was pulled following the firm's botched IPO

Forbes just revoked Adam Neumann's billionaire status and lowered its estimate of his personal net worth to $600 million — which means his purported net worth has plummeted by $3.5 billion in just 7 months

 

October 9

Goldman Sachs is setting up a WeWork office in London as an emergency trading floor

Amid a company meltdown and employee revolt, WeWork is sponsoring LinkedIn ads offering to help address 'lagging team morale'

We're starting to get a sense of the damage WeWork has wrought on Wall Street, and it could cost Goldman Sachs $264 million

October 8

WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann personally invested $30 million in a startup and loaned money to its CEO. Then the CEO got fired for alleged gross misconduct.

WeWork is reportedly seeking a $4 billion lifeline from SoftBank and JPMorgan

October 7

WeWork is hitting the brakes after its IPO went up in smoke — and landlords could pay the price

October 5

Here's everything we know about WeWork exec exits, huge layoffs, and more as the co-working giant looks to right itself after a failed IPO

October 4

Wall Street gave Adam Neumann up to $500 million he was going to pay back after WeWork's IPO. Now that the offering is pulled, banks are scrambling to hammer out a solution.

October 3

WeWork is planning to lay off thousands — up to 25% of its employees — as its new CEOs focus on the core business

A New York real estate group sounded the alarm on WeWork years before it plunged into chaos

Traders are piling in to short WeWork's 'house of cards' junk bonds — and the cost of the bets are some of the of the priciest on record

October 2

WeWork is on pace to run out of money by mid-2020, Bernstein says

October 1

WeWork is reportedly considering selling its stake in women's coworking space The Wing

After WeWork banned employees from expensing meat, Adam Neumann was spotted eating a giant lamb shank at a company dinner

WeWork's Rebekah Neumann insists that all technology she uses is white-colored, and her assistants once had to break apart her phone, spray paint all the pieces, and put it back together for her

WeWork is planning to sell off 2 more tech companies

September 30

WeWork shelves IPO for now under new leadership

WeWork's bonds plummet to record low after company pulls its IPO

Google examined WeWork search results and reportedly found 'the most alarming negative sentiment trends' it's seen for such a company

Some WeWork employees are now worried that they have a 'black mark' on their résumés

WeWork opened 400 locations in 3 years. In some cases, it used deep discounts to convince existing customers to relocate to help fill them.

WeWork went from a $47 billion valuation to a failed IPO. Here's how the company makes money.

September 29

Adam Neumann gives his first statement on WeWork's culture and leadership changes since stepping down as CEO and admits 'growing pains'

Sex, tequila, and a tiger: Employees inside Adam Neumann's WeWork talk about the nonstop party to attain a $100 billion dream and the messy reality that tanked it

September 28

How WeWork spiraled from a $47 billion valuation to talk of bankruptcy in just 6 weeks

 

September 27

Jefferies slashed the value of its stake in WeWork by $146 million more than two weeks before its failed IPO

September 26

WeWork's Adam Neumann voted to oust himself as CEO after failed IPO, sources say

WeWork is reportedly halting all new lease agreements with property owners

WeWork's new co-CEOs are planning to oust 20 of Adam Neumann's friends and family members

We just learned about the latest WeWork departures. 2 longtime members of Adam Neumann's inner circle are out. More key exits are likely coming.

WeWork is selling the company's $60 million luxurious private jet that Adam Neumann and his family personalized and used to fly all over the world

WeWork is reportedly in talks with SoftBank about a $1 billion lifeline

September 25

WeWork was criticized by some of its tenants in a letter to leadership after 5 cleaning contractors were fired

WeWork is reportedly unlikely to go public this year — and thousands of layoffs could be coming

WeWork's new CEOs want to sell off 3 of its businesses as the company looks to cut costs

September 24

Adam Neumann gives up most of his voting power and steps down as WeWork's CEO, saying intense public scrutiny of him was a 'distraction.' 2 execs will permanently replace him.

WeWork will replace Adam Neumann with two new CEOs. Here's everything we know about Sebastian Gunningham and Artie Minson.

Adam Neumann tells staff that the spotlight on WeWork provides an 'opportunity to expand our global business to more people than ever before'

Cofounder Rebekah Neumann is giving up her roles at WeWork as her husband steps down as CEO

September 22 and 23

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has started talks about his future role at the company, including the possibility of giving up the CEO title

The New York Stock Exchange appeared to troll WeWork on Twitter

WeWork's board reportedly meets Monday to discuss pushing out Adam Neumann — and his alleged 'self-dealing' and marijuana use may come into play

WeWork board members are talking about ousting CEO Adam Neumann amid IPO turmoil

September 20

WeWork just lost another executive as the chief investment officer of its real-estate fund resigns

Billionaire Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison calls embattled WeWork 'almost worthless'

A former WeWork executive who made $300,000 and is now suing describes strange cultlike culture, including endless flows of alcohol at mandatory sleepover camp for employees and the CEO's children on his lap during an all-hands meeting

A WeWork tenant found its weak WiFi security exposed bank details, driving licenses, and a virtual birthday card featuring Nicholas Cage as a cat

September 19

WeWork cofounders Adam and Rebekah Neumann are close friends with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and invited them to Rebekah's extravagant 40th birthday bash in Italy

September 18

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann reportedly smoked weed with friends on a private jet to Israel — and the flight crew later found a 'sizable chunk' in a cereal box and recalled the plane

Former Twitter CEO calls out WeWork CEO Adam Neumann amid the company's IPO fiasco: 'This is not the way everybody behaves'

WeWork cofounder Rebekah Neumann, cousin of Gwyneth Paltrow, reportedly demanded employees be fired within minutes of meeting them because she disliked their 'energy'

WeWork founder Adam Neumann joked about changing the United States Constitution so he could run for president

WeWork's collapsed IPO has reportedly tanked a $112 million London property deal

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann told employees he's 'humbled' by the collapse of the firm's IPO

September 17

WeWork will reportedly shelve its IPO in a 'last-minute decision' after weak investor interest

September 16

WeWork is reportedly leaning toward delaying its IPO

WeWork's top communications executives are jumping ship as the company struggles to go public

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned against opening private companies to everyday investors — if ordinary people had invested in WeWork at a $47 billion valuation, they'd be 'getting fleeced'

September 13

WeWork is now considering an IPO valuation as low as $10 billion, down from $47 billion

SoftBank reportedly plans to boost its stake in WeWork by $750 million in the coworking giant's IPO

WeWork just announced a Nasdaq listing and fresh limits on CEO Adam Neumann

September 12

WeWork is debating whether to take power from Adam and Rebekah Neumann, its husband-and-wife cofounders, to get its IPO back on track

September 11

WeWork is reportedly considering big governance changes in order to rescue its flailing IPO

September 10

WeWork may soldier on with its IPO despite reports that it's slashing its valuation by more than half

WeWork is reportedly planning to tap investors via the risky junk-bond market again as its IPO stumbles

September 9

WeWork reportedly might slash its valuation below $20 billion, or even postpone its IPO

WeWork's biggest outside shareholder, SoftBank, is reportedly asking for the IPO to be put on hold because investors don't seem interested

September 6

WeWork could cut its valuation in half to about $20 billion after intense skepticism of its business and CEO — and it might delay its IPO

September 4

WeWork paid its own CEO $5.9 million to use the name 'We,' but now he's giving it back after the deal was criticized

A former Uber executive hired to clean up ousted founder Travis Kalanick's mess has joined WeWork's board of directors as it gears up for a massive IPO

August 27

WeWork has reportedly been bleeding HR managers in the last year, and some are pointing fingers at CEO Adam Neumann

WeWork gave out 58 stock awards worth at least $1 million each in February, and 94% of them went to men, a lawsuit says

August 20

WeWork's IPO documents baffled an analyst who specializes in evaluating companies preparing to go public

August 15

Morgan Stanley backs out of WeWork's monster IPO after getting snubbed for the lead role

WeWork boosted its advertising spend by a whopping 164% on its way to one of the most anticipated IPOs of 2019

A buzzy energy startup raised $30 million from WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, then collapsed the day WeWork filed to go public

August 14

WeWork just filed for its IPO and revealed a lengthy list of risk factors that investors should be aware of

WeWork is going public with an extremely weird, complicated structure

WeWork files for IPO, revealing spiraling losses of $1.6 billion

'The energy of we': People are roasting WeWork for its cultish IPO filing

Adam Neumann has locked up control of The We Company in a jaw-dropping way, even by Silicon Valley standards, by giving himself 20 votes per share

WeWork details CEO Adam Neumann's web of loans, real-estate deals, and family involvement with the company

WeWork IPO reveals company loaned millions to CEO Adam Neumann and other company execs

WeWork lays out its path to profitability — and most of its options involve slowing its breakneck growth

Adam Neumann's wife is one of 3 people who would choose WeWork's next CEO if he dies or is unable to work