The SoftBank Group and WeWork Companies (“WeWork”) today
announced a joint venture that will bring WeWork’s transformational
platform of space, community, and services for companies of all
sizes – including creators, entrepreneurs, small and medium
businesses, and large multinational enterprises – to Japan. The
SoftBank Group1 and WeWork will each own 50% of the joint venture,
which will operate under the name of WeWork Japan. By entering
Japan, WeWork will expand its global community and connect its more
than 130,000 members to the innovative and growing Japanese
market.
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“Driven by Adam’s superior vision and his highly talented team,
WeWork is disrupting preconceived notions of work styles and
opening up myriad opportunities for the next generation of creators
around the world by taking a scientific approach that fully
utilizes the latest technologies,” said Masayoshi Son,
Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “With this joint
venture, we look forward to collaborating with WeWork to offer new
possibilities for people in Japan.”
“At WeWork, we want to create a world where people work to make
a life, not just a living,” said Adam Neumann, Co-Founder and CEO
of WeWork. “When I met Masa and understood his vision for a
technology-enabled future, a vision I share, I knew that together
we would be able to make a big impact, grow our community and
change how and where people work. Both WeWork and SoftBank have
established reputations for connecting people and creating
partnerships to facilitate innovation and inspire new ideas.
SoftBank shares our tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit and through
collaboration we will work to benefit people and communities in
many innovative ways. We are only as strong as our people and
partners, so we look forward to our future with SoftBank, welcoming
Japan into our global community and helping more creators and
businesses to collaborate and innovate together in ways they could
not yet imagine."
WeWork, a platform for creators, has created an extensive global
network of shared workspaces. The company provides an entirely new
way to work by offering flexible space, services, and a connected
community network to creators, entrepreneurs, small and medium
businesses, and multinational companies. WeWork’s “space as a
service” solution enables companies of all sizes to enter and exit
markets opportunistically, grow and shrink office footprints
according to their needs, and pursue new business lines and ideas
in a way that best suits their particular needs. In offering its
services in Japan, WeWork hopes to build connections between
non-Japanese members of WeWork’s global network and the creators
and businesses that drive the world’s third largest economy.
In the last year, WeWork has diversified its product offering to
better accommodate the needs of enterprise companies. Today, more
than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are members with WeWork. This
segment represents the fastest growing member demographic for
WeWork and it now accounts for more than 20% of WeWork’s total
membership, indicating the enormous potential for encouraging large
and well-established companies to collaborate and innovate within
WeWork’s member community.
WeWork is committed to challenging outdated ways of building,
using, and interacting with physical space in a working
environment. To do this, it deploys industry-leading software and
technology to maximize the efficiency of its portfolio of workspace
locations and its operations, and thereby increase member
satisfaction. The Company also uses data-driven analytics to better
understand how people operate in the workplace and uses these
insights to develop its product and create an even more compelling
offering for its members. As one of the few end-to-end product
companies that acts as an owner, operator, and client organization,
WeWork has developed proprietary technological data systems that
can source, design, and ultimately manage buildings.
WeWork is creating a digital operating system for physical space
that leverages data and technology at each point in the building
process so it can make better sourcing decisions, improve its
designs, build faster and smarter, and ultimately improve the lives
of the people working within its buildings. Its cutting-edge
technologies and dedication to technological innovation is one of
the key reasons why WeWork has been able to scale from operating
one workspace location to more than 150 in just over seven
years.
WeWork plans to launch its first location in Tokyo in early
2018. To oversee this launch and scale its Japanese operations,
WeWork has appointed Chris Hill to serve as the Chief Executive
Officer of WeWork Japan. Chris joined WeWork in 2010 shortly after
its founding to serve as the company’s first Chief Operating
Officer. During his tenure at WeWork, Chris has held several key
executive functions, which include serving as the Global Head of
Community and Operations and, most recently, serving as the Global
Chief Community Officer. In these roles, Chris has created,
implemented, and scaled many of the processes, operational
frameworks, and strategies that are used to run WeWork communities
and create the highest level of member experience. Over the past
two years, Chris has spent extensive time overseas successfully
scaling the WeWork brand in foreign markets.
About the SoftBank Group
SoftBank is a global technology player that aspires to drive the
Information Revolution. SoftBank is comprised of the holding
company SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO: 9984), its domestic
telecommunications subsidiary SoftBank Corp., and its global
portfolio of companies, which includes advanced telecommunications,
internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy
technology providers. In September 2016, ARM Holdings plc, the
world’s leading semiconductor IP company, joined the SoftBank
group. To learn more, please visit www.SoftBank.jp/en/
About WeWork
WeWork is a platform for creators, providing more than 130,000
members around the world with space, community, and services
through both physical and virtual offerings. WeWork’s mission is to
help create a world where people work to make a life, not just a
living. WeWork currently has more than 150 physical locations in 49
cities and 15 countries around the world. WeWork, started in New
York City in 2010, was founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel
McKelvey.
1 A subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG) and SoftBank Corp.,
a subsidiary of SBG and a telecom operating company in Japan, will
contribute to the joint venture.
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MediaSoftBankJapan:SoftBank
GroupSoftBank Group Corp. Corporate Communications+81 3 6889
2300sbpr@softbank.co.jporUS:Sard Verbinnen & CoBenjamin
Spicehandler / Hannah Dunning+1
212-687-8080SoftBank-SVC@sardverb.comorWeWorkDominic
McMullan / Rebecca McClainpress@wework.com