Office-space startup WeWork lost $1.25 billion in the third quarter as expenses far outpaced revenue growth, draining the company’s cash ahead of a bailout by SoftBank Group Corp. last month, the Wall Street Journal reported. We Co., as the parent company is officially known, said yesterday in a report to debtholders that revenue surged 94 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 to $934 million compared with the year-earlier period. The report of the heavy dose of red ink compares with WeWork’s prior record loss of $638 million, posted in the second quarter, and is more than double the $497 million loss reported in same year-earlier period. Behind the ballooning losses were many of the very concerns investors had with the company earlier this fall, when it attempted an initial public offering. Once considered the most valuable startup in the U.S. with a valuation of $47 billion, WeWork’s attempt to go public was widely panned by potential investors given concerns over its mounting losses, as well as the erratic management style of the now-departed chief executive, Adam Neumann. With little apparent demand from investors, the IPO was pulled and Neumann was forced out.
