Global flexible workspace provider WeWork has emerged from bankruptcy protection and named a longtime Cushman & Wakefield veteran as its new chief executive.
WeWork said David Tolley, a former Blackstone private equity partner who joined WeWork more than a year ago and steered its restructuring, stepped down as CEO. John Santora, most recently Cushman & Wakefield’s chairman in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, will take the helm on Wednesday, WeWork said Tuesday. WeWork also said it exited Chapter 11 on Tuesday since filing for protection status in early November.
Santora has more than 40 years of experience at Cushman, where he’s held leadership roles including CEO of North America, the firm’s largest region, WeWork said. He also served as Cushman’s global chief operating officer and chief integration officer before his most recent position. In 2021, Cushman made a $150 million strategic investment in WeWork and remains a service partner.
“Today is a pivotal moment in WeWork’s history,” Anant Yardi, founder and chief executive of business software firm Yardi Systems, a WeWork partner that has become its majority owner as part of a debtor-in-possession financial restructuring, said in a statement. Yardi said he’s known and worked with Santora for many years, calling him “the perfect leader” to take WeWork forward.
A WeWork spokesperson declined to comment to CoStar News beyond the statements.
WeWork also selected a new seven-member board, including Yardi and three other executives from Yardi’s namesake firm. Santora is set to serve on the board, as well as Jagannath Iyer, a partner from SoftBank, WeWork’s former majority shareholder that now is a minority owner. Daniel Ehrmann, partner and head of restructuring at King Street, also is a member. The investment firm is part of a WeWork investor group with a stake in the post-bankruptcy company.
WeWork exits bankruptcy after a court judge recently approved its restructuring plan. The New York-based company, after getting saddled by debt and expensive leases that ended up leading to its bankruptcy filing, emerged from bankruptcy debt-free. The company's chain of wholly controlled global locations has dropped to 337 from about 500 in June 2023 as part of its lease renegotiations with landlords to cut its leasing costs.
Its restructuring plan led to the company wiping out more than $4 billion of pre-petition debt in a debt-for-equity restructuring arrangement. WeWork said the lease talks also have led to it cutting about $12 billion, or more than 50%, in future rent expenses.
WeWork recently said its global footprint, including franchised and joint venture locations in India, China, Japan and Israel, will total about 600 locations spanning a combined 45 million square feet in 120 cities across 37 countries.
WeWork is a tenant in a Virginia building CoStar Group acquired earlier this year. CoStar also competes with Yardi in providing real estate data.