WeWork may slash its valuation ahead of IPO

WeWork owner The We Company is considering slashing the valuation it will seek in an initial public offering (IPO) to a little over $20 billion, less than half the $47 billion valuation it achieved in a private fundraising round in January, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The We Company's deliberations illustrate how growing investor skepticism over the U.S. office space sharing startup's lack of a roadmap to profitability, and its co-founder Adam Neumann's firm grip on its governance, are weighing on its IPO prospects. A dramatic drop in the We Company's valuation could also prove to be a seminal moment for the IPO expectations of Silicon Valley unicorns, or startups with a valuation over $1 billion. Other high-profile stock market listings this year, such as those of ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc, have fared poorly in subsequent trading, amid investor skepticism over their lack of a concrete plan to profitability.