In a throwback to a more innocent time — before anyone knew Adam Neumann packed a cereal box full of marijuana onto his private jet — the WeCompany is changing its name back to WeWork.
The move is an attempt to return the company to its office-sharing roots, according to an internal memo cited by Reuters.
“We want to be strategic. We want to be innovative. We want to be impactful. We want to be WeWork,” wrote company CEO Sandeep Mathrani, who took over the reins of the money-losing startup after Neumann was ousted following last year’s public offering debacle.
WeWork had changed its name to the We Company to reflect its expansion into other lines of business like co-living and childcare.
But after the company’s failed IPO attempt — and revelations about some of its co-founder’s eccentric habits — the SoftBank-backed shared-office space giant decided to scale back ambitions and refocus on its core business. [Reuters] — Rich Bockmann