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Cat Johnson – Coworking Marketing Maven
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak – Competitive Advantage
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Jeremy Fennema – Tech Innovation Alchemist
WeWork CEO Adam Neumann has had a long-running relationship with JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. A JPMorgan fund bought a stake in the coworking firm five years ago, and since then, the bank has provided more financial aid than any other lender.
Now, JPMorgan will contribute $800 million of WeWork’s $6 billion package of debt financing contingent upon the firm raising $3 billion in its IPO next month. The bank will also lead the IPO.
A fund within JPMorgan Asset Management revealed that a stake into WeWork has multiplied since its founding to surpass $600 million.
If the listing is successful, it could show JPMorgan is gaining momentum after leading Lyft’s IPO earlier this year.
Goldman Sachs, arguably the top dog of New York investors, also has an established relationship with WeWork. Goldman acquired a stake during WeWork’s venture-funding rounds and is reportedly expected to help lead JPMorgan in the IPO.
“If WeWork is a complete nightmare, I think Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are still going to be here in six months chasing the big IPOs and getting hired for them anyway,” said Adam Augusiak-Boro, an EquityZen analyst.
