WeWork Companies Inc., the rapidly growing shared-office-space
provider, has raised $400 million of capital from Fidelity
Management & Research Co. in a deal that values it at $10
billion, the company said Wednesday.
The deal is the latest signpost of the company's stunning growth
and investors' growing appetite for rapidly expanding private
companies. Formed in 2010 in a small office in New York, WeWork was
valued at $5 billion six months ago. In early 2014 it was valued at
about $1.5 billion.
The money from Fidelity was unsolicited, said Adam Neumann,
WeWork's chief executive, in an interview Wednesday.
"We didn't seek this out," said Mr. Neumann. "We kept having
offers and kept ignoring them," he added, saying that eventually he
changed his mind and struck the deal with Fidelity.
The company's main business is renting office space from
landlords and dividing it up into incubator-like spaces with small
offices and hip common areas meant to promote interaction.
Bloomberg News reported earlier Wednesday that WeWork was
seeking funds at a $10 billion valuation.
Write to Eliot Brown at eliot.brown@wsj.com
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