WeWork files confidentially to go public

WeWork Cos., the world’s biggest office-sharing company, is planning to go public, joining a wave of highly valued technology start-ups moving to the U.S. markets.

The New York company said Monday that it filed paperwork confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hold an initial public offering. WeWork — which rents office space to companies and freelancers, and also goes by We Co. — would probably be the year’s biggest U.S. IPO after ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc., which expects to start trading next week.

WeWork was most recently valued at $47 billion after a January investment from SoftBank Group Corp., its biggest investor.

Similar to other big-name tech IPOs this year, such as Uber and Lyft Inc., WeWork runs a business with huge losses.

That’s partly the result of expenses such as building lease commitments that can last 15 years. The company posted a loss of $1.93 billion on $1.82 billion in sales last year.

In an email to staff Monday, WeWork’s chief executive, Adam Neumann, painted the company’s responsibilities in the lofty terms expected of a firm whose mission is to “elevate the world’s consciousness.” The email’s subject line read: “Just Getting Started.”

“We have regularly focused on how to take our business to the next level in every aspect,” Neumann wrote in the email. “Partly due to technology and partly due to the times we live in, the world has never felt smaller and yet more people than ever are sharing that they feel alone. As one of the world’s largest physical networks, it is our responsibility to help lead the way and set the global example for people and corporations on how we should take care of each other and of our planet.”

Since its founding in 2010, WeWork has raised more than $12 billion in funding, most of it from SoftBank. The Japanese conglomerate has reshaped the world of tech start-ups with its $100-billion fund backed by Saudi Arabia. SoftBank is a major investor in several of the biggest public offerings planned for this year.