Meet Bankrupt WeWork’s New Indian-Origin CEO Anant Yardi

Bankrupt global coworking space provider WeWork has seen a change of guard in its leadership with Indian-origin software tycoon Anant Yardi taking over as its new CEO after acquiring a majority stake in the company on May 30. 

As per a report by FT, the IIT-Delhi alumnus has infused more than $200 Mn in equity and debt in the company over the past two years. 

The New York-based startup, founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in 2010, leases out coworking spaces across the globe and managed to scale a peak valuation of $47 Bn. But a slew of legal and corporate governance issues forced the company’s hand to file for bankruptcy in November 2023. The company’s valuation also dropped significantly to $750 Mn in April. 

Meanwhile, WeWork India claimed to be unfazed by the calamities that impeded the global entity’s journey. WeWork India’s CEO Karan Virwani said that the company is backed by the Embassy Group and the issues with WeWork will have no impact on the Indian unit. Further, WeWork Inc is currently looking to sell its remaining 27% stake in its Indian unit through an INR 1,200 Cr secondary transaction.

Yardi, who runs Yardi Software, is bullish about a change in fortunes of WeWork. “WeWork is such a popular and well-known brand, it didn’t seem right to let it go down. I realise financial decisions are not made on right and wrong. But there’s also a tremendous opportunity in terms of turning around WeWork,” he told FT. 

He also told the publication that his focus is on marketing to small businesses after the bankruptcy. “Our view of coworking is that it’s an interesting combination of hospitality or hotelling, apartment leasing and commercial leasing,” he said. 

Here’s a brief profile of Yardy:

• After graduating from IIT Delhi in 1968, Yardi migrated to the US and set up Yardi Software, which provides a property management software for commercial and residential landlords, in 1984 
• The company, which he continues to run with his wife, saw its annual revenue touch $3 Bn in 2024
• Prior to starting the company, he also developed programming methodologies at Burroughs Corporation for 14 years. 
• Despite building his fortunes in the US, the tycoon has remained in touch with his roots in India. Recently, he donated $10 Mn to IIT Delhi. 

Explaining his rationale behind the donation to IIT Delhi, Yardi said, “Artificial Intelligence technologies are driving global transformations, and playing a pivotal role in industrial, social and environmental change. We look forward to the ScAI (IIT Delhi’s School of Artificial Intelligence) strengthening education and research in AI, Machine Learning and Data Science, to enable commercial and societal applications.”

With the latest development, Yardi has joined the growing list of Indian-origin CEOs governing major global corporations. Some of the big names include Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet; Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft; Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube; Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group; Vivek Sankaran, CEO of Albertsons, George Kurian, CEO of NetApp, Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of Snowflake, among others.

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