WeWork CEO says tariff uncertainty is actually good for his business: 'Who's prepared to commit to a 10- or 15-year lease?'
Many companies are sounding the alarm on the negative repercussions of tariffs on their businesses. Not WeWork.
WeWork CEO John Santora said Thursday at the Semafor World Economy Summit that the economic uncertainty around tariffs has actually attracted more business for the coworking space company.
"So if we look at it and just take today's environment with all the uncertainty around tariffs and what's happening, who's prepared to commit to a 10- or a 15-year lease with $50 or $100 million spend?" Santora said.
"The world, business, investments are all on a pause right now until you determine what impact it's going to have on your company, on your supply chain, on the cost of all of that," he added. "So we're seeing companies that are in our spaces today extend, companies that haven't been in our spaces before talking to us about 'Can you fill the short-term gap for us? What can you do for the next six months?'"
Santora expanded on his remarks in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, saying WeWork's clients "look to a player like us to give them that flexibility."
"You have to pause," he told Bloomberg of how his clients are thinking of the uncertain economic environment. "You have to think about it. You have to think whether or not to invest that major capital in a market, at least through this short term. You have to step back."
Besides tariffs and their consequences, return-to-office mandates could also drive business for WeWork, Santora said.
"The other thing is, do we really know how many people are going to be in the office? We don't," he told Semafor. "We don't know whether it's going to be three days a week, four days a week, five days a week. We can mandate it, or firms mandate it, but by taking that short-term look at it, do two years with us, do three years with us. At that point, you know where your business is heading."
It's been a tumultuous few years for WeWork, which saw the exit of founder and former CEO Adam Neumann in 2019. His departure followed a failed IPO marred by concerns about WeWork's business model, valuation, and governance. WeWork eventually went public via a SPAC in 2021. The company later filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023.
WeWork declined to provide additional comment.
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