› On August 14, 2019, WeWork, then operating as The We Company, filed its prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
› The first sentence about its mission said it wanted to "elevate the world's consciousness." Six weeks later, founder Adam Neumann was no longer CEO, the IPO was called off, and a company valued at $47 billion in January was looking for a rescue.
› This story shows that a prospectus can do what a board did not.
› The WeWork S-1 everyone read In January 2019, SoftBank put another $2 billion into WeWork at a $47 billion valuation.