Uber Slashes, Christmas Retail Trouble, Proposed East Side Hotel a Boost, and WeWork Fights to Live

Uber Slashes, Christmas Retail Trouble, Proposed East Side Hotel a Boost, and WeWork Fights to Live

It was a big weekend in business both nationally and locally. 

WeWork Survival

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that WeWork may survive through an investment from its already largest investor. "SoftBank Group Corp. has prepared a financing package that would give it control of WeWork and further sideline its founder Adam Neumann in exchange for relieving the shared-office startup’s looming cash crunch, according to people familiar with the matter.

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WeWork is racing to find a way to shore up its financing after its New York parent company We Co. pulled its plans for an initial public offering and Mr. Neumann resigned as chief executive under pressure.”

WeWork has become the poster child for tech bust in recent weeks.

 

Facebook Currency Exodus

“The skies are also darkening around Facebook's ambitious digital currency project. After Mastercard, Visa, eBay and Stripe all quit the project on Friday night, the online travel group Booking Holdings is the latest to abandon Libra,” reports the Financial Times. The FT's editorial board argues that regulators are right to complain Facebook has failed to make the case for its own global currency.

 

Uber Slashing

Uber laid off 350 employees on Monday, in the latest indication that the ride-hailing company is trying to respond to concerns among investors that it is losing too much money.

The cuts, the third round in recent months, were focused in the autonomous vehicle unit, operations, recruiting and customer support, an Uber spokesman said. Since July, the company has cut more than 1,000 jobs, more than 2 percent of its workforce.

 

Christmas Trouble for Retailers

Despite continued strength in e-commerce spending this year, the 2019 Holiday Season will be challenging. The combination of greater economic headwinds and a highly compressed holiday calendar will make strong growth harder to come by, says eMarketer

 

Hotel Gets a Boost

Smart Hotel’s proposed 6-story got a boost when community leader and College Hill resident Ray Rickman endorsed the plan. See Rickman's argument for the proposal.