Reuters reports that New York’s attorney general is investigating the embattled workspace giant WeWork.The company confirmed it had been contacted by Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which will reportedly focus on activities by WeWork’s cofounder and former CEO, Adam Neumann.The company has faced trouble since it shelved its initial public offering and turned to its largest shareholder for a rescue deal. Massive layoffs are expected at the company in the coming weeks.Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.New York’s attorney general is investigating the embattled workspace giant WeWork, Reuters reported Tuesday.The outlet cited two people familiar with the matter and said the company confirmed it had been contacted by Attorney General Letitia James’ office.”We received an inquiry from the office of the New York state attorney general and are cooperating in the matter,” a WeWork spokeswoman told Reuters.One point of investigation is whether WeWork’s cofounder and former CEO, Adam Neumann, indulged in self-dealing. He was widely reported to have bought properties to lease back to WeWork and to have charged the company almost $6 million to use his trademark of the word “We” for the rebranded The We Company.The company has faced trouble since it shelved its initial public offering and took a rescue deal from its largest shareholder, the Japanese technology investment company SoftBank. Neumann stepped down as CEO in September, and the company has laid off a large portion of staff.The company is expected to lay off thousands of employees “in earnest” beginning this week.Reuters noted that this wasn’t the first time the company had caught the attention of the New York attorney general, as WeWork scrapped its policy of requiring employees to sign noncompete agreements after reaching a settlement with the attorney general last year.Read more of our WeWork coverage:SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told WeWork executives he wanted the company to turn a profit by 2021Investors are more skeptical than ever that WeWork will be able to pay back its debtRead the leaked email from WeWork’s chairman telling employees that layoffs will begin ‘in earnest’ this weekOne chart shows just how dire WeWork’s revenue situation is
The New York state attorney general is investigating WeWork amid layoffs – Business Insider
