SoftBank pours $4.4B into WeWork

WeWork just announced that it’s receiving a massive $4.4 billion investment from SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund.

It’s been less than a month since WeWork announced $500 million in funding for a standalone WeWork China business, which SoftBank participated in. It’s also launching in Japan through a joint venture with SoftBank — so this funding deepens an already-strong relationship between the coworking company and the Japanese giant.

The companies say the funding breaks down to $3 billion invested in WeWork itself (both through a primary investment and a secondary purchase of existing shares) and $1.4 billion in the companies created for WeWork’s expansion in Asia — namely WeWork China, WeWork Japan and WeWork Pacific. (The $1.4 billion includes SoftBank’s previously announced investment in WeWork China.)

“[SoftBank CEO] Masayoshi Son is a visionary business leader and we are humbled by this strong endorsement of our mission and purpose,” said WeWork co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann (pictured above) in the announcement. “This support from SoftBank and the Vision Fund will provide even more opportunities for creators as we set out to humanize the way people work and live.”

WeWork says it currently has more than 150,000 members across 160 locations in 16 countries. As a result of this investment, SoftBank Group’s Ronald D. Fisher and Mark Schwartz are joining the company’s board of directors.