Reuters
- WeWork posted a $2.1 billion loss for the first quarter of 2021.
- It also said it had lost 200,000 members, more than a quarter of its membership, over the past year.
- The impact of COVID-19 and a settlement with former CEO Adam Neumann contributed to its losses, it said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Office-sharing startup WeWork on Thursday reported that it had lost $2.06 billion in the first quarter of 2021, and more than a quarter of its members over the past year.
The co-working company was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic as more people worked from home and avoided shared offices.
WeWork's quarterly revenues fell almost 50% compared to the first quarter of 2020, from $1.1 billion to $598 million, according to its results for the quarter ending March 31.
WeWork said restructuring costs were $494 million, an increase from $56 million in the first quarter of 2020. This was driven by Japanese tech giant SoftBank's stock purchases, and a settlement with former CEO Adam Neumann, who stepped down in 2019.
Neumann could reap $500 million in cash from the settlement and remain a shareholder of the company, the Wall Street Journal first reported in February.
Total occupancy of WeWork office spaces stepped up to 50% in the first quarter compared to 47% in the fourth quarter of 2021, the firm said.
WeWork also saw a drop in membership by 200,000 people between March 2020 and March 2021. The company had 490,000 members in the first quarter, compared to 693,000 members in March 2020, according to the results.
The results come ahead of WeWork's public listing through a merger with BowX Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), later this year. The deal could value it at $9 billion.