WeWork said on Monday that it plans to end its operations in Russia, a week after its CEO said the real estate company’s “assets are incredibly well” there and he doesn’t think he would need to leave the country.
“Together with our colleagues, members and owners, we are finalizing solutions to divest operations in Russia and have suspended all expansion plans for the business in this region,” the company said in a statement posted to LinkedIn on Monday.
“We unequivocally condemn the unprovoked and unjust war that is bringing senseless devastation to the people of Ukraine.”
WeWork, which operates 700 locations worldwide, has four locations in Moscow.
The company faced some criticism last week over comments made by CEO Sandeep Mathrani in an interview with Bloomberg at a JPMorgan conference.
Asked if WeWork would have to withdraw from Russia in response to the Ukraine invasion, Mathrani replied: “I don’t think so… As I said, our assets do incredibly well. We look forward to a resolution of the conflict and hope that we can continue to do business in Moscow.”
In the interview, Mathrani said: “We are, at the moment, more than 90% busy. It’s a small part of our business. Gross revenue is about $10 million on our multi-billion dollar base.”
After a disastrous attempt to go public in the fall of 2019, WeWork finally debuted on Wall Street in October 2021, when it went public through a SPAC.
Over the interim two years, the WeWork organization has been revamped, including leadership changes, a return to focus on its core real estate businesses, and pandemic resilience.
The company’s shares have dropped more than 50% since the first day of trading.
A day after Mathrani’s comments, the company appeared to be paving the way for a change of course, telling Barron’s in an emailed statement that it was “prepared to take the necessary steps to ensure an orderly closure of our business.” [na Rússia]”.
The WeWork announcement comes on the heels of a number of major international companies, from Apple to Exxon, that recently announced plans to withdraw from Russia.
In LinkedIn’s statement on Monday, WeWork said, “We continue to focus on the safety of our colleagues and everyone affected by the ongoing conflict. We stand in solidarity with Ukraine and have partnered with the UN Refugee Agency to support refugees fleeing Eastern Europe, help with aid and resources and provide free space for those in need immediately.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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