WeWork also said its mission is to “elevate the world’s consciousness,” and critics on Twitter were quick to mock the rhetoric.
WeWork published the S-1 paperwork for its initial public offering on Wednesday, and the business’ gargantuan losses of $1.6 billion weren’t the only thing to catch people’s attention.
Two pages into WeWork’s S-1 is a spread bearing the firm’s minimalistic logo along, with a strange dedication: “We dedicate this to the energy of we — greater than any of us, but inside each of us.”
Journalists and others were quick to snort at the mantra.
The kind of poetry only billions in losses can buy pic.twitter.com/U6ZFqgsYiN
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 14, 2019
cover page of $WE filing… pic.twitter.com/d04wwDEHxM
— Anthony DeRosa (@Anthony) August 14, 2019
i realize when reading an s-1 you're supposed to skip ahead to the juicy parts but i'm already stuck on wework's second page, in which the epigraph dedicates this to “the energy of we” that is “inside each of us” pic.twitter.com/lhOoz8cqlX
— Ellen Huet (@ellenhuet) August 14, 2019
In addition to the mantra, some critics went in on the language inside the S-1, including WeWork’s stated goal to “elevate the world’s consciousness,” and its frequent use of the word “community,” which pops up a total of 150 times in the 220-page document.
What is WeWork's mission?
“Our mission is to elevate the world’s consciousness.”
Like, duh.
— Sachin Ravikumar (@sachinr27) August 14, 2019
::takes comically enormous bong rip::
me: August 14, 2019
What could go wrong at WeWork with a mission statement like this?
“We are a community company committed to maximum global impact. Our mission is to elevate the world’s consciousness.”
August 14, 2019
Three sentences into WeWork's “our story” section of its IPO filings and I have no idea what it does: “Our mission is to elevate the world’s consciousness”
— Rani Molla (@ranimolla) August 14, 2019
Number of times WeWork S-1 uses word “community”: 150
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 14, 2019
Cultish, grandiose, and vaguely ridiculous language from tech companies is nothing new, but “the energy of we” has definitely struck a chord as even more preposterous than usual.
