To be frank, it doesn’t even matter whether SoftBank Group Corp. was right, morally or legally, to walk away from its deal to double down on a stake in The We Co.
It’s also irrelevant whether WeWork founder Adam Neumann comes off as a sore loser for filing a lawsuit to chase down billions of dollars for shares in a company built on a questionable business model that ultimately led to the collapse of a sky-high valuation, and which looks even more bleak as the COVID-19 pandemic throws doubt on the future of cramped, transient office work.
What’s really important is whether Neumann, who was forced out of the office rental startup last year when SoftBank bailed it out following a scrapped initial public offering, has any hope at all of extracting more money from the Japanese investment vehicle led by Masayoshi Son. His chances of doing so are greater than zero, which makes even the most unlikely lawsuit a good bet.
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